Mr. Ted Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution has been made to British Railways to cover costs of Service personnel travelling on the Darlington-Richmond line for the years 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1967.
§ Mr. Reynolds:The fares of Service pensonnel travelling at public expense on the Darlington-Richmond line are re- 374W imbursed to British Railways under the normal arrangements for travel of Service personnel. No contribution is made in addition to this. I regret that it is not practicable to identify that part of the payment to British Railways in respect of travel over the particular stretch of line, since the warrants exchanged at Richmond and Catterick Bridge stations are normally to further destinations than Darlington, and personnel arriving at these stations may have travelled from all parts of the United Kingdom. The number of tickets issued at Richmond and Catterick Bridge stations is about 25,000 a year.