§ 65. Mr. Wallasked the Secretary of State for Transport if, as part of his studies in connection with the White Paper on Transport Policy, he will initiate a study of the volume of trade carried on inland waterways, including the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation, during each of the past five years; and what expansion is envisaged.
§ Mr. William RodgersThe Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation was the subject of exhaustive traffic studies when the proposal to improve it was put to the Government. As the recent White Paper on Transport Policy makes clear, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, who has immediate responsibility for inland waterways, was unable to approve the proposal because these studies failed to identify a likely volume of traffic sufficient to produce an adequate return on the investment. New information concerning freight traffic on inland waterways is likely to emerge from my Department's forthcoming origin and destination survey of freight passing through United Kingdom ports.