§ Mr. Matthew BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to allow British Rail to spend current and existing resources on track and signalling improvements.
§ Mr. FreemanIt is for BR to allocate its resources between programmes. For the Government's part, we have made more than £2 billion available to BR for 1992–93. Last year's autumn statement also added an extra £239 million to BR's finances over the next two financial years. Currently, the main bulk of track and resignalling work is taking place on Network SouthEast. Overall, some £225 million is being spent on a wide range of these projects on NSE this year including the Thames line (as part of a £175 million total modernisation scheme), the Great Eastern line (over £70 million), the London, Tilbury and Southend line (£40 million contract let for main construction work) and part of the Kent coast line (as part of £100 million project related to channel tunnel).