§ Mr. Trippierasked the Secretary of State for Transport what operational railway property is to be involved in his proposals to introduce private capital into the British Railways Board's subsidiaries.
§ Mr. FowlerI have agreed with the Railways Board that it should aim to transfer to the new property company which it intends to establish as a subsidiary of British Rail Investments Ltd. a number of properties which are classified as operational but are not in fact needed for running the railway. These will in the main be large office developments. The figure at which they will appear in the company's balance sheet will depend on the extent of the continuing railway interest and on market conditions. The board's preliminary view is that their value might be about £40 million.