§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in rank order information available to him for each country within the European Economic Community on the percentage of Government subsidy to their national railway system.
§ Mr. PortilloThe most recent information available to the Department is given in the table, which is derived from the ninth Commission report on the transposed annual accounts of railway undertakings for 1985 [COM (88)739 final], a copy of which is in the Library of the House. There are substantial variations between countries in financial arrangements, including the writing off of debt and the systems for financial support.
Subsidy1 United Kingdom 29 West Germany 31 France 32 Irish Republic 33 Denmark 36 Netherlands 46 Belgium 52 Italy 57 Greece 66 Luxembourg 73 1 As percentage of operating costs. Note: Figures for the United Kingdom are an amalgamation of subsidy paid to the British Railways Board and Northern Ireland Railways.