§ Mr. TimmsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what studies relating to the proposed international passenger station at Ebbsfleet were carried out between the announcement of the intermediate stations in August 1994 and the publication of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Bill in November 1994. [35824]
§ Mr. WattsMy right hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, South (Mr. MacGregor), the former Secretary of State, announced in January 1994 that Ebbsfleet was the preferred parkway station option, subject to a satisfactory offer of private finance. To meet the Bill timetable Union Railways started preliminary work for the environmental statement in May 1994. Work was stepped up in June when Ministers decided that the offer made by Blue Circle provided an acceptable basis for proceeding, subject to the negotiation of detailed heads of terms. By the time these negotiations were satisfactorily concluded and a decision announced at the end of August 1994, consultants had developed access road options and a comparative environmental appraisal of the results was nearly complete. Other work for the Ebbsfleet annexe to the ES started in late July. Work on this and on access arrangements, including validation of the appraisal of access options by external environmental specialists, continued after August. Despite the relative simplicity of the existing road network and the fact that Union Railways was able to draw on work already undertaken on behalf of Blue Circle, the highways arrangements were only finalised in October just in time for inclusion in the Bill.