§ Mr. Greenwayasked the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has received from British Rail about its level of services during the current exceptional weather, and as to its plans for coping with similar conditions in the future; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. David MitchellBritish Rail has supplied me with frequent information about the effect of this week's abnormally severe weather on its services. I shall, of course, want to consider with the board whether there are any particular lessons to be learnt for the future, but these extremely low temperatures occur very rarely and the board should incur expenditure only if it can be shown to be cost-effective.