Mr. Wilsonasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will make a statement on the system of elec- 194W trification which he has approved under Section 4 (2) of the Transport Act, 1947, for adoption by the British Transport Commission in then modernisation plans.
§ Mr. WatkinsonThe British Transport Commission is today announcing its decision, subject to my approval, to depart from the electrification systems hitherto used in this country and to adopt as a standard for future electrification the use of an overhead supply of alternating current at the industrial frequency of 50 cycles, generally at a pressure of 25 kilovolts. This will apply to all lines to be electrified under the modernisation plan except the extensions of the Southern Region system to the Kent coast, for which it is proposed to use the low-voltage D.C. third-Tail system. This system will be retained where it now exists elsewhere in the Southern Region.
Some other existing electric lines where no serious problems of inter-running arise will be kept on their present systems, at any rate for the time being, but elsewhere conversion to A.C. is proposed, in particular on the East Anglian lines of the Eastern Region, including the Shenfield electrification and its extensions.
I am carefully and urgently studying the Commission's proposals in consultation with a number of my colleagues who are concerned. Meanwhile it would be premature for me to commit myself to final and formal approval of them. I should, however, like to express today my warm appreciation of the bold and imaginative technical decision which the Commission has reached on this most important matter and my hope that, in the words of its own report, it will be proved to have anticipated the needs of the new railway era.
I am arranging for a copy of the Commission's technical report to be placed in the Library.