§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many diesel multiple units are now operating on the railways system in Great Britain; how many of these are less than five years old; how many diesel multiple units operate in Scotland; and how many of these are less than five years old.
§ Dr. GilbertAbout 3,400 diesel multiple units, all of which are more than five years old, operate on the British Railways network. Just over 400 of these are currently allocated to the Scottish Region
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been 391W the level of investment on new railway passenger stock in Great Britain as a whole in the period of 1957 to 1974; and what proportion of the investment has been in Scotland.
§ Dr. GilbertApproximately £240 million. Any attempt to allocate this sum as between Scotland and the rest of the country would be impracticable because some passenger services cross the border and much passenger stock is transferred from one part of the system to another during its life to meet operational and other requirements.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much additional capital has been invested in the railway system due to North Sea oil development.
§ Dr. GilbertNorth Sea oil development traffic has so far been accommodated on the existing railway system. British Rail is considering future needs.