§ 10. Mr. Durantasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has yet received proposals for the electrification of the Paddington-Reading railway line.
§ Mr. EyreNo, Sir, and I would not expect to receive any before the British Railways Board submits its 10-year programme of schemes for the electrification of potentially profitable main line routes.
§ Mr. DurantBearing in mind the age of some of the diesel units on this line, will my hon. Friend do his best to speed up development, because it is important that such key lines have capital investment as soon as possible? At the same time, will my hon. Friend urge the train drivers to accept Lord McCarthy's proposal so that we can at least have more efficiency in the railway system?
§ Mr. EyreI understand that there has recently been a major programme of refurbishment on the diesel units.
The principle applying to this line and to other main line routes is that, if the main line from London through Reading is potentially profitable and the board can demonstrate a sound financial case for electrification, I should expect it to be included in the 10-year programme that I hope to receive in about two months.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. This is a constituency question.