§ Mr. David Atkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many letters he has received (a) in favour of the construction of a Channel tunnel and (b) against the construction of a Channel tunnel.
§ Mr. David MitchellOver 1,200 letters have been sent to the Secretary of State since March 1980. Of these only 88 have been received since March 1982 and 52 were in favour of a link, 12 against, and 24 neutral or simply seeking information.
§ Mr. David Atkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will publish the latest estimate available to him of the cost of building (a) twin 6m rail only tunnels connecting the British and continental rail networks, (b) a single 7m tunnel with facilities either end for handling roll-on/roll-off lorry traffic on a shuttle system and (c) twin 7m tunnels as above.
§ Mr. David MitchellI have no estimate of the cost of building twin 6m rail only tunnels as such, as a scheme has not been advocated by any of the fixed link promoting groups. The UK/French study group which reported in June 1982—Cmnd. 8561—estimated (at January 1981 prices) the most likely cost of single and twin simultaneously constructed tunnels with a vehicle shuttle facility at £1,537 million and £1,877 million respectively. These figures comprise only the cost of the link itself and of portal infra-structure.
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§ Mr. David Atkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has yet received the report of the group of British and French banks studying the financial feasibility of the various schemes for a fixed Channel link which have been advanced; and when he will make the report public.
§ Mr. David MitchellNo, but I expect it very soon. Arrangements for possbile publication are under consideration.
§ Mr. David Atkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the current position for a Channel tunnel.
§ Mr. David MitchellMy right hon. Friend will first want to see and consider the report of the Anglo-French group currently awaited.