§ Sir Robert HicksTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce his Department's application to the EU for funding for the feasibility study for the rail trans-European network route from Bristol to Plymouth and Penzance; and if he will make a statement. [3457]
§ Mr. WattsI refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to him on 16 JulyOfficial Report, column 440. We pressed the merits of the UK's TEN bid, including an allocation for a development study of the great western line, at the meeting of the TENs finance committee on 25 July. We now expect a formal Commission decision, in the light of that meeting and subsequent bilateral discussion, to be issued at the end of this month.