§ Mr. Beaneyasked the Minister of Transport, in view of his responsibility for the consideration of future applications to close sections of railway line under the Beeching plan, and in order to enable an assessment of the economic factors involved to be made, if he will give the tonnage of coal, minerals and merchandise received at stations on the least used half of the route miles of British railways; and what is the total traffic in tons arriving at these stations.
§ Mr. MarplesMy responsibilities under Section 56 of the Transport Act, 1962, 107W which the hon. Member appears to have in mind, relate to the closure of railway passenger services, and do not extend to the modification of freight services. The points on which the hon. Member is seeking information are for the British Railways Board.