§ 72. Mr. Hefferasked the Minister of Transport if he will now make a further statement in relation to rail closures in the Liverpool area; and if he will give an assurance that no further closures will take place in the area until after the report of the Steering Committee appointed at the suggestion of the former Minister of Transport to consider Merseyside transport needs has been published and its recommendations studied.
§ Mr. Tom FraserI shall consider all proposals for the closure of railway passenger services in the area in accordance with the general policy I announced in my statement on 4th November.
I shall certainly not sanction any closure which might conflict with the future transport requirements in the area. I will, if necessary, wait for the results of particular studies before taking my decisions.