Mr. Fred Evansasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will intervene to prevent the closure of British Railways' service between Fishguard and Waterford in the Republic of Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. William RodgersThe Transport Users' Consultative Committee for Wales last year examined the proposal by the British Railways Board to withdraw this shipping service and concluded that the degree of hardship was not such that it could recommend that the closure should be opposed. I have considered the TUCC report and further representations made by trade unionists and local people and I have decided that I have no grounds for dissenting from this view. There is no prospect of this service becoming viable, and I have no power to subsidise the Railways Board's shipping activities. The performance of the other service which BRB runs from Fishguard—Fishguard-Rosslare—has recently improved considerably, and the Board also intends to augment it with another ship.