Rail Network (Hansard, 11 July 1996)

§ Mr. Soley
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to expand the rail network in Northern Ireland. [35385]

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Malcolm Moss)
There are no plans to expand the rail network in Northern Ireland.

§ Mr. Soley
Why does not the Minister give the go-ahead to the Bleach Green line, which he knows will receive 75 per cent. funding from the European Union, leaving us to pay only £2 million? Does he not recognise a good investment when he sees it?

§ Mr. Moss
The line is used only for servicing purposes and it is not, as the hon. Gentleman knows, up to passenger standard. It would not be possible to meet the original target date for completion, but the commitment to reinstate the line for passenger traffic still stands. We are looking at a cost of £8 million at 1992 prices. We hope to start next year, and it will take 18 months to complete the project.

§ Mr. Dowd
Will the Minister also confirm that the scope for public investment in the rail system and in Northern Ireland generally is reduced by every pound that must be redirected to security and policing costs, and that all people whose actions serve to increase those costs are sharply decreasing the chances of building the infrastructure that is needed to create the long-term prosperity that is essential to everyone?

§ Mr. Moss
The hon. Gentleman makes a sound point. I made it myself only the other day in Newry with regard to the health service, in terms of the total money in the block that we have to spend. If we have to spend £1 million a day on security measures, that is £1 million a day that we will not have available for projects of the sort that he has described.