HC Deb 13 December 1988 vol 143 cc518-9W
Mr. Adley

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the cost per mile of contructing a mile of(a) motorway and (b) double track railway line.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

Construction costs of motorways vary substantially depending on factors such as location and the need for structures. As announced in the answer to

Scheme Miles Cost £ million Average cost £ million per mile
(i) Recently completed
Completion date
May 1986 M4/25 Airport Spur 0.9 8.0 8.9
June 1986 M42 Tamworth-Water Orton 2.7 27.0 10.0
June 1986 M42 Bromsgrove 4.3 16.5 3.8
August 1986 M42 Tamworth 7.6 22.2 2.9
August 1986 M27 Swaythling Link 0.7 2.6 3.7
October 1986 M25 Micklefield-South Mimms 13.0 94.3 7.3
December 1986 A1(M) Roestock-Stanborough1 3.1 57.0 18.4
March 1987 M5/M42 Junction Southern Turn 1.4 4.8 3.4
(ii) Under construction
M40 Banbury Bypass 27.6 151.4 5.5
M40 Warwick Section 11.1 55.5 5.0
M63/M66 Portwood-Denton 5.0 40.6 8.1
1 Including Hatfield tunnel.

The M25 is 117 miles long, and cost nearly £1 billion over the construction period from 1975 to 1986 (average £8.5 million per mile).

It is difficult to give costs for railways as there are few examples in recent years of new stretches of line being built. The cost of providing a suitable alignment can be considerable, and variables such as the cost of stations, junctions nd tunnels mean that it is impossible to provide an average figure.

BR has provided the following examples of construction costs (excluding land):

Selby diversion—costs of infrastructure, track, earthworks, signalling, overhead wiring and station alternations: average of £4.5 million per mile (1983 prices: equivalent to £5.8 million per mile current prices).

Stansted airport link—costs of infrastructure, track, earthworks, signalling and new junction but excluding the new station and tunnelling: average of £5.1 million per mile (1985 prices: £5.9 million per mile current prices); costs including tunnelling but excluding station: average of £7.7 million per mile (£8.8 million at current prices). The average figures include the single track section under the runway as well as the double track section: it is not possible to differentiate between these.

The figures exclude the cost of locomotives and rolling stock.