§ Mr. Leadbitterasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set up a special inquiry involving the use of the Railway Inspectorate to examine the extent to which the backlog of track maintenance is affecting safety standards, and to review present safety requirements.
§ Mr. Fowler[pursuant to his reply, 25 March 1981]: No. These are matters for the Railways Board, which has a statutory duty to operate the railway with due regard to safety. I informed the hon. Member on 25 February—[Vol. 999, c. 872]—of the comprehensive arrangements for monitoring safety performance, and I see
Railway Investment by British Railways Board region 1975–80 (excluding Continuous Welded Rail) £ million actual 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 Eastern 30.06 25.40 24.05 25.61 32.94 34.03 London Midland 16.56 16.40 20.08 26.42 33.97 40.86 Scottish 7.76 9.01 10.20 10.49 13.88 12.11 Southern 15.78 11.39 14.93 20.81 26.79 35.33 Western 7.53 5.89 6.69 7.59 9.77 9.50 H.Q. * 72.31 93.55 106.68 103.76 112.71 152.45 Subsidiaries †‡ 21.00 39.00 32.00 50.00 71.00 52.00 Total ‡ 171.00 200.00 215.00 245.00 301.00 337.00 * Including rolling stock, not allocated by region. † Includes: Freightlines, Sealink, BRHL, BREL, BTH, BR Property Board Investment in subsidiaries not allocated by region. ‡ Figures rounded.