§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Transport (1) what study he has made of the decisions made by the railway concerns in the United States of America, France, and Federal Germany regarding the motive power to be used on their railways, and of their operating experience, in the course of his study of what systems to sanction for use on British railways;
(2) what study he has made, in the course of considering what motive power systems to sanction for British Railways, of operating experience on British Railways to date; what information he has received from the British Transport Commission regarding results obtained or estimated from diesel-electric and electric locomotives hauling the same total weights of trains during the same number of hours per annum, at the same speeds in miles per hour, of the amounts spent on maintenance on each type, and of the estimated performance of each type of engine after ten years' use; and if he will publish this information in tabular form;
(3) what study he has made of the performance of trains on the electrified lines between Manchester and Liverpool and Crewe compared with that of diesel 158W electric engines, and of their relative maintenance costs and estimated performance after several years' operation, to help him come to a decision regarding the system most suitable for British Railways; and if he will publish the information that he has obtained about operating experience on these lines:
(4) if, when considering the forms of motive power to sanction for British Railways, he will ascertain and set out in tabular form, respectively, for diesel-electric engines and electric engines of the same power, the weights, capital costs, annual operating costs and maintenance costs on the basis of the same total weight of trains per annum in each instance.
§ Mr. Ernest MarplesThe technical evaluation of experience gained in operating railway equipment is a matter for the British Transport Commission, and not for my Department. In considering major proposals for investment in railway modernisation, however, I take account as necessary of all information supplied to me by the Commission which is relevant to the financial results it hopes to achieve.