HL Deb 03 June 1959 vol 216 cc552-3
THE DUKE OF ATHOLL

My Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many bridges where road tolls are collected are owned by British Railways; and whether there are any plans for removing such tolls.]

THE EARL OF GOSFORD

My Lords, British Railways own three bridges at which they collect road tolls—namely, Shoreham, in Sussex; Lymington, in Hampshire; and the Connel Ferry Bridge, in Argyll. My right honourable friend the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation proposes in due course to construct a new river bridge and approach roads at Shoreham to replace the toll bridge there, which at present carries the trunk road A.27, but it is proving very difficult to find a line which is both satisfactory from the engineering point of view and acceptable to local opinion.

The toll bridge and toll rights at Lyming ton, which are on a Class II road, are at present the subject of negotiations between the British Transport Commission and the highway authority, the Hampshire County Council. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland has at present no plans which would involve a free crossing at Connel Ferry, where the bridge carries a railway line, with a single-lane carriageway alongside.

THE DUKE OF ATHOLL

My Lords, while thanking the noble Earl for his reply, may I ask whether he is aware of the great delays that are caused in the summer months by the collecting of the tolls at the Connel Ferry bridge? If it is impossible to abolish these tolls, could not more than one person be put on to collecting them?

THE EARL OF GOSFORD

I will gladly bring the noble Duke's observations to the notice of the British Transport Commission.