§ Mr. Stanleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what are the estimated contributions to the net receipts of the Channel Tunnel of the following sources of revenue in both the first full year of the tunnel's operation and in 1990: (a) passengers with vehicles, (b) passengers without vehicles, (c) freight transported by lorry on Channel Tunnel ferry trains, and (d) freight transported by through rail services, expressed both in money and as a percentage of total net receipts;
(2) what is his estimate of the total number of cars that will be transported to and from the Continent and Kent in 1980 and in 1990 if the Channel Tunnel is constructed and if it is not;
(3) what is his estimate of the total tonnage of freight that will be transported to and from the Continent and Kent by lorry in 1980 and in 1990 if the Channel Tunnel is constructed and if it is not.
§ Mr. MulleyThe traffic and revenue forecasts made during Phase I were published in June 1973. Copies of the reports are in the Library of the House They were also summarised in the previous administration's White Paper (Cmnd. 5430). A joint review of these forecasts forms part of the current phase of the project.
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§ Mr. Stanleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the estimated saving in the cost of the Channel Tunnel, expressed both in money and as a percentage of total capital cost, to be derived from eliminating the ferry service for lorries whilst leaving the diameter of the tunnel unchanged;
(2) what is the estimated saving in the cost of the Channel Tunnel, expressed both in money and as a percentage of total capital cost, to be derived from eliminating the ferry service for all types of vehicles and reducing the diameter of the tunel to accommodate trains built to British and continental gauges only;
(3) what is the estimated saving in the cost of the Channel Tunnel, expressed both in money and as a percentage of total capital cost, to be derived from retaining a ferry service for cars only but reducing the diameter of the tunnel to accommodate single-deck car ferry trains, and trains built to British and continental gauges.
§ Mr. MulleyI understand that the savings which would be made over the forecast cost of the tunnel as proposed—£464 million at January 1973 prices—are as follows:
Estimated Savings £ million Per cent. Tunnel diameter unchanged, lorry ferry facilities omitted 10 2.1 Tunnel to UIC gauge with no vehicle ferry facilities 141 30.4 Tunnel to UIC gauge with ferry facilities for cars only 4 0.9 The cost-benefit study carried out by the previous administration indicated that the United Kingdom share of these savings would be far more than offset by additional British investment in shipping, ports, and roads needed to handle the traffic which would not then go by tunnel.