Passenger Transit System (Hansard, 26 May 1999)

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the total cost of the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system linking Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station project between commissioning initial feasibility studies and abandonment of operation; and if he will make a statement. [85069]

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
This is a commercial matter for Birmingham International Airport Ltd.

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions who owns the surviving overhead structure of the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system linking Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station; and if he will make a statement. [85073]

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
I understand from Birmingham International Airport Ltd that it owns the surviving overhead structure.

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system linking Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station was formally commissioned after trials to the intended operator; who the intended operator was; and if he will make a statement. [85067]

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
I understand from Birmingham International Airport Ltd that the MAGLEV system was formally commissioned on 16 August 1984; and that the intended operator was the airport undertaking as part of the former West Midlands County Council.
169W

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to revive the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system linking Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station; and if he will make a statement. [85071]

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
Birmingham International Airport Ltd. is committed to reinstating a link between the terminal building and the railway station. It is also subject to a planning obligation in a section 106 planning agreement between the airport company and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council with reference to the outline planning approval for the extension of the passenger terminal facilities and related infrastructure granted in July 1996. The airport company is considering what form the link should take and how it can best be integrated with the multi-modal interchange which is being planned for the airport.

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in whom the residual rights and liabilities of the principal design and construction contracts of the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system linking Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station are now vested; and if he will make a statement. [85075]

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
I understand from Birmingham International Airport Ltd. that in the agreement between the former West Midlands County Council and the individual joint venture companies, the parties agreed that patents, registered designs or copyrights in the case of mechanical and electrical aspects of the transportation system were to be the property of the individual company undertaking that particular aspect of the work, and that in the case of civil engineering and building aspects of the system intellectual property rights were to be the property of the Council. The airport company is a successor in title to the former Council.

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions who commissioned the initial feasibility studies for the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system linking Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station and when; who let the contracts for its construction, with whom and when; and if he will make a statement. [85066]

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
I understand from Birmingham International Airport Ltd. that the initial feasibility studies for the MAGLEV system were commissioned in 1979 by the former West Midlands County Council, which owned Birmingham Airport at that time; and that the contracts for its construction were let by the Council in 1981, as part of the airport's development, with the People Mover Group (GEC, Balfour-Beatty, Brush Electrical Machines and Metropolitan-Cammell) and John Laing.

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the total of passenger fares collected in the period of fare-paying operation of the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system linking Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station. [85070]
170W

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
I understand from Birmingham International Airport Ltd. that the MAGLEV system always formed part of the airport's essential infrastructure as the link to the railway station and that no fares were ever charged for its use.

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what has become of the passenger cars for the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system linking Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station and who owns(a) them and (b) the proceeds of their sale; and if he will make a statement. [85074]

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
I understand from Birmingham International Airport Ltd. that it still owns the passenger cars and that they remain stored at the airport.

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when and by whom it was ultimately decided to abandon operation of the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system linking Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station; and if he will make a statement. [85068]

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
I understand from Birmingham International Airport Ltd. that it took and implemented this decision in July 1995.

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the cost of making the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system linking Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station operational; and if he will make a statement. [85072]

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
The cost of reinstating a link between the airport and the railway station is a matter for Birmingham International Airport Ltd. It will depend in part on how it is decided to integrate it with the multi-modal interchange which is being planned for the airport. But I understand from the airport company that a study in 1995 concluded that it was not technically feasible to make the MAGLEV system itself operational.

Mr. John M. Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the occasions on which actions for damages were assessed as to liability against a party considered to have been responsible for the failure of the MAGLEV overhead passenger transit system at Birmingham International Airport; and if he will make a statement. [85277]

§ Ms Glenda Jackson
This is a matter for Birmingham International Airport Ltd.