§ Mr. David PorterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the steps he is taking to improve East Anglia's road, rail and air links with Europe after 1993.
§ Mr. PortilloOur latest plans to improve the motorway and trunk road network in East Anglia are set out in our White Paper "Roads for Prosperity", which recognises the challenges presented by the single European market in 1992 and the opening of the Channel tunnel in 1993. In the East Anglian counties of Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire schemes worth over £500 million have been added to the existing programme which will result in comprehensive improvement of the A1, A11, A12 and A47 trunk roads.
55WIt is for British Rail to plan the pattern of rail services in the United Kingdom including services through the Channel tunnel. BR's section 40 plan proposes a daily service through the Channel tunnel to Brussels and Paris on the newly electrified east coast main line. Connections to and from Ely and Norwich will be made at Peterborough. New rolling stock and locomotives capable of 140 mph speeds are currently being delivered to the line. Firm proposals in respect of freight movement by rail from East Anglia are still being developed. Journey times from stations between Cambridge and King's Lynn to London will be improved by electrification. We are negotiating hard to liberalise the provision of air services within the Community including those involving regional airports. Stansted, Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich airports should benefit from these expanding opportunities. A new rail link to Stansted is under construction.