§ Mr. SpeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport when his Department first gave consideration to an alternative cheaper international station at Ashford.
§ Mr. FreemanI visited Ashford station in the company of British Rail officials on 30 May to see for myself what potential there might be for an alternative cheaper option for the international passenger station, and asked British Rail to examine the feasibility of my own ideas. This study proved abortive, but a proposal subsequently advanced by Eurotunnel has been a catalyst for plans for a cheaper station to be examined further.