§ Mr. van Straubenzeeasked the Minister of Transport whether she plans an expansion or a contraction in the numbers employed and value of work produced at the railway workshops under the transport policy announced in Command Paper No. 3057; and if she will give estimates of the numbers which will be employed and the total value of output of the railway workshops in 1969–70.
§ Mrs. CastleThe determination of these matters rests largely with the Railways Board and will depend upon a268W number of factors in addition to those with which the White Paper on Transport Policy (Cmnd. 3057) is primarily concerned.
§ Mr. Peter Walkerasked the Minister of Transport if she will give the date on which the Government started its fundamental review of railway policy referred to in paragraph 13 of Command Paper No. 3057 and the date on which the review was completed.
§ Mrs. CastleThe review was begun when the Government took office. Formulation of the policy set out in the White Paper on Transport Policy (Cmnd. 3057) was completed shortly before publication of that document. There will be a further stage in the review, to be conducted jointly by the Government and the Railways Board. This is described in paragraphs 29–32 of the White Paper.
§ Mr. Peter Walkerasked the Minister of Transport what yardstick she is giving to the Railways Board for measuring the effectiveness of the railway system against the real national requirement.
Mr. Gresham Cookeasked the Minister of Transport (1) whether she will estimate the cost of implementing paragraph 25 of Command Paper No. 3057;
(2) by what criteria she will decide how much of the present rail deficit can be fairly regarded as attributable to the maintenance of unremunerative services which the community requires.
§ Mrs. CastleThese are among the matters which, as indicated in paragraphs 29 and 30 in the White Paper on Transport Policy (Cmnd. 3057), the Government and the Railways Board have set up joint machinery to examine.
§ Mr. Peter Walkerasked the Minister of Transport what mileage of the rail network is commercially and operationally viable within the present terms of reference of the Railways Board.
§ Mrs. CastleA considerably smaller mileage than that of either the present system or the new basic network mentioned in Chapter II of the White Paper on Transport Policy (Cmnd. 3057).
§ Mr. Peter Walkerasked the Minister of Transport if she will estimate the date on 269W which particulars of the proposed basic rail network, referred to in paragraph 19 of Command Paper No. 3057, will be published.
§ Mrs. CastleI cannot at present make an estimate more precise than the indications given in paragraph 19 itself.
§ Mr. Peter Walkerasked the Minister of Transport if she will give her estimate of the total route mileage and the route mileage open to passenger traffic, respectively, of Great Britain's railways when the pruning of 400 miles of passenger-carrying line and 1,330 miles of freight-carrying line, referred to in paragraph 20 of Command Paper No. 3057, is complete.
§ Mrs. CastleI must ask the hon. Member to await the publication of the particulars of the proposed basic network discussed in paragraph 19 of the Paper.