§ Mr. Andersonasked the Minister of Transport if he is aware that, in recent evidence submitted to the Transport Users Consultative Committee, British Railways assessed the loss on local services between Newport and Gloucester at £40,000 net; on what basis he calculated that there was a loss on the line of £100,000 when he made his decision not to make a social grant in order to maintain a service; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MarshI am, of course, aware of the facts to which my hon. Friend refers, but the figures quoted in his Question are not, and are not intended to be, comparable.
The Heads of Information submitted to the Transport Users Consultative Committee by the British Railways Board 347W show that the revenue directly attributable to the local passenger service between Newport and Gloucester is £56,000 per annum, and the direct cost of movement and terminals is £96,100. All other costs are ignored. The only purpose of these figures, which on the advice of Sir William Carrington have since 1963 been presented in a standardised form, is to give the Committees, when they consider the alternative cost of providing additional bus services, some idea of the amounts of money at stake.
I quoted the estimated amount of grant in my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Newport (Mr. Roy Hughes) on 5th February. Total costs were estimated at £185,000 and earnings at £58,000. As recommended by the Joint Steering Group, and accepted by the Government in the White Paper on Railway Policy of November, 1967 (Cmnd. 3439) the calculations for this purpose are on the basis of long-term costs.—[Vol. 777, c. 138.]