§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the total amount of public expenditure used for(a) the King's Cross project and (b) the now abandoned south London route for the channel tunnel high speed link.
§ Mr. FreemanBritish Rail's accounts show £332 million cumulative expenditure on the channel tunnel rail link project up to 31 March 1993 £252 million net of interest payments. Of this net cost Union Railways assign some £46 million to Kings Cross and £89 million to the abandoned section of the southerly route. A more detailed assessment is not possible because the Kings Cross project was not conceived solely for the rail link and a proportion of the southerly approach is still part of the route. It also remains to be seen what additional reduction in net cost will be achieved through further property sales.