Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the level of public investment in each of the past five years in new rolling stock for the railway systems; and if he will make a statement on the future of the Northern Ireland Railway Network. [94837]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe level of investment in new rolling stock in each of the past five years is detailed in the table (the information is provided on a financial year basis).
Year £ 1994–95 5,279,774.36 1996–96 4,468,495.88 1996–97 5,700,559.34 1997–98 1,529,794.75 1998–99 173,394.36 Seventy-five per cent. of the investment was met from European Structural Funds.
Government are conscious of the need to invest in public transport infrastructure and rail rolling stock. The Northern Ireland Transport Policy Statement, 'Moving Forward', confirmed the need for further investment in the railways and highlighted that the possible use of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to secure investment in provision of public transport services would be explored. To that end, and given the capital costs involved, the
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Annex A: Private sector new dwelling starts by district council area 1989–98 District council area 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Total Antrim 176 154 188 230 274 271 238 246 341 196 2,314 Ards 411 284 273 293 436 509 429 499 443 575 4,152 Armagh 208 172 207 180 235 260 314 265 390 385 2,616 Ballymena 248 219 250 226 326 276 297 303 337 266 2,748 Ballymoney 96 96 89 113 135 117 178 196 316 194 1,530 Banbridge 219 154 202 195 274 297 304 372 359 478 2,854 Belfast 476 403 95 488 172 80 158 68 500 350 2,790 Carrickfergus 348 295 258 252 302 286 237 232 300 199 2,708 Castlereagh 158 352 408 412 390 430 447 486 210 148 3,441 Coleraine 271 361 342 388 458 496 479 468 531 512 4,306 Cookstown 132 99 88 99 130 196 161 131 110 145 1,291 Craigavon 400 313 250 304 427 435 380 467 588 511 4,075 Derry 341 235 260 321 492 536 620 520 343 374 4,042 Down 351 283 245 226 259 307 349 375 451 412 3,258 Dungannon 127 56 103 85 50 85 182 332 385 350 1,755 Fermanagh 223 230 266 207 316 328 343 396 314 535 3,158 Larne 160 126 101 127 106 200 251 170 194 153 1,588 Limavady 99 112 115 128 181 214 162 196 190 246 1,643 Lisburn 594 408 464 451 494 559 601 498 466 384 4,919 Magherafelt 141 116 111 151 159 224 237 295 335 271 2,040 Moyle 43 77 53 51 67 102 102 132 243 165 1,053 Newry and Mourne 426 306 451 448 574 510 503 563 530 681 4,992 Newtownabbey 382 379 278 363 376 377 372 417 433 453 3,830 Government are currently considering the possible use of PPPs for the replacement of rolling stock and rail infrastructure.