§ Mr. Snapeasked the Minister of Transport what progress has been made by his Department in evaluating the performance in service of self-demounting containers and pallets which could assist road and rail interchange ; when he expects to publish a report on this work ; and what other studies are being carried out on techniques of inter-modal transfer.
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§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke: The Transport and Road Research Laboratory has recently completed technical studies of self-demounting containers and container-carrying pallets. These have included demonstrations of prototype equipment. A report is being prepared for publication before the end of this year.
In a research and development pro gramme jointly funded by this Department British Rail is investigating various potential means of container transfer.