§ 71. Mr. W. Hamiltonasked the Minister of Transport if he will make a statement on the progress made to date on the implementation in Scotland of the Beeching proposals on rail closures.
§ Mr. MarplesThe Railways Board has now given notice under Section 56230W of the Transport Act, 1962, of all but one of the 51 proposals to close passenger services in Scotland listed in "The Reshaping of British Railways". The Transport Users Consultative Committee has reported on 31 of these proposals. I have given my consent to closure in 14 cases and refused it in one. In addition, I have refused consent to the withdrawal of the service as a whole on the lines from Inverness to Kyle and to Wick and Thurso. I shall announce as soon as possible my decisions on the proposals now before me, including the intermediate stations on the Inverness lines.