Trains (Telephones)

HC Deb 30 January 1996 vol 270 cc618-9W

Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if all trains are equipped with two-way telephones. [12384]

Mr. Watts

No. Installation of the line-side transmitter equipment for the national radio network is virtually complete. The planned engineering target is 98 per cent. of the network excluding tunnels and cuttings. Most modern train cabs have also been fitted with the necessary equipment.

In the former Network SouthEast area, British Rail has decided to fit the cab secure radio system, so that further modifications will not be necessary when driver-only operation is extended. About 65 per cent. of passenger train miles in the Network SouthEast area already have cab secure radio.