§ 65. Mr. Shinwellasked the Minister of Transport if he will include in the OFFICIAL REPORT the number of applications he has received to date to halt the closure of railway branch lines; and what was the source of such applications.
§ Mr. Tom FraserAmongst the large correspondence which I have received have been many letters about the halting of closures. Without disproportionate effort I cannot give the number, but they have come from a wide variety of sources.
§ 67. Mr. Wolrige-Gordonasked the Minister of Transport whether, before approving proposals for rail closures, he 47W will take steps specifically to consult local authorities and all other interested bodies to ascertain their views on the adequacy of the alternative means of transport which are proposed by the British Railways Board.
§ Mr. Tom FraserI have no evidence that any change is needed in the existing arrangements under which local authorities and other interested bodies can lodge objections on grounds of hardship with the Transport Users Consultative Committees and can make representations on other matters direct to me.
§ 68. Mr. Wolrige-Gordonasked the Minister of Transport in how many cases since October, 1964, when he has given permission to close a railway line by a certain date and subject to certain conditions, those conditions have not been fulfilled; and what action he has taken in each case.
§ Mr. Tom FraserNone.
§ Mr. Derek Pageasked the Minister of Transport what proposals for closure of the King's Lynn-Wisbech railway line he has now received from the Railways Board; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Tom FraserThe Railways Board have given notice that they plan to discontinue the King's Lynn-Wisbech passenger services. I have not so far received details of the Board's proposals. If and when I do, I shall consider whether the Board should be allowed to publish them under Section 56 of the Transport Act, 1962, in accordance with the arrangements I announced on 4th November.
§ Mr. Derek Pageasked the Minister of Transport what statistics of numbers of passengers he requires when considering closure proposals made by the Railways Board.
§ Mr. Tom FraserThe Board and the the Central Transport Consultative Committee have agreed that the, Board should provide figures showing the numbers on each train joining and alighting at each station on representative days, normally in both winter and summer. I call for any additional information I need in particular cases.