§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make a statement on the Government's current plans for the development or reduction in British Railways' services; to what extent there are intentions of increasing or reducing Government grants; and how this will increase or reduce the track mileage and passenger services and the general efficiency and running of British Railways services.
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§ Mr. William RodgersThe Government's current intentions for rail support and investment are set out in Cmnd. 6721 Vol. II. Under the public service obligation imposed by the Minister for Transport in December 1974 the Board has a statutory duty to operate its passenger railway so as to provide a public service comparable generally with that provided then. Other wider issues, concerning the rôle of the railways within transport policy as a whole, will be considered in my forthcoming White Paper.