§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 24 April to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central, what are the technical difficulties relating to the day trains for direct services from the channel tunnel to cities north of London; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreemanI understand from British Rail that there are two main problems. One is the need to avoid the risk of electrical currents from the locomotives interfering with the signalling. The other is the adaptation of the inter-capital train sets, which are too long for stations north of Peterborough and Rugby, so that they have a driving cab in the middle of the train and can be split to operate as two separate trains, while preserving the other characteristics of the train sets. British Rail is investigating with the manufacturers how best to overcome these difficulties and will seek the earliest possible delivery date. As an interim measure, British Rail is examining the possibility of running a few InterCity services from Scotland and the north of England direct to Waterloo to provide a better connection with the inter-capital trains.