§ 10. Sir David SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to present an integrated transport policy to Parliament before 1992.
§ Mr. Cecil ParkinsonWe are pursuing a balanced policy, with record levels of investment over the next three years, to improve all aspects of the transport system.
§ Sir David SteelThat sounds absolutely marvellous. Is not the difficulty that the outgoing chairman of British Rail has given a clear warning to the Government about the levels of investment in both line and rolling stock required for 1992? Is he aware that road users want more traffic taken off the roads and put on the railways and that airport congestion could be eased if there were an improved railway system and fewer short-haul flights? That is why an integrated transport system is needed.
§ Mr. ParkinsonThe only countries in Europe with a fully integrated transport system that we have located are East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Russia. Their electors do not seem terribly impressed with their integrated transport systems or with the people who tried to develop them.