§ Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Minister of Transport if he will name the railway services referred to in his written answer of 13 November to the right hon. Member for Heywood and Royton (Mr. Barnett) as being subject to a closure option.
§ Mr. FowlerMy answer of 13 November to the right hon. Member for Heywood and Royton (Mr. Barnett) was unfortunately not printed inHansard in full. The full answer was:
I have received no list of closure from British Rail. As I told the House on Wednesday, 7 November, the Railway Board's 1979 corporate review, which was sent to me on 25 October, contains financial evaluations of a number of options drawn up by the Board at the end of the last year, including an option of closing some services.I have not yet discussed the corporate review with the Board. However, it is my firm policy that there should be no substantial cuts in the passenger rail network. I have therefore written to the chairman to make it clear that the Government reject the option of substantial closures and a copy of that letter is in the Library of the House".I would add only that the Board's corporate review does not include a list of the services that might be closed.