HC Deb 20 November 2000 vol 357 cc18-9W
Mr. Rowe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent discussions he has held with Railtrack about the second phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link; and if he will make a statement. [138531]

Mr. Hill

Railtrack have said that they will take a decision on exercising their option once they have the final outcome of the Regulator's periodic review process. As yet the Department has received no formal approach from Railtrack concerning Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Railtrack has already committed to purchase Section 1 of the link and has previously indicated its desire to exercise its exclusive option to purchase Section 2.

Mr. Rowe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimates he has made of the dates on which the(a) first and (b) second phases of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link will be in service. [138529]

Mr. Hill

(a) Construction on Section 1 remains on time and on budget. Services are due to start in October 2003.

(b) Assuming Railtrack's agreement to purchase, construction on Section 2 is due to start in July 2001. Services are due to start in 2007.

Mr. Rowe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent estimate he has made of the cost of building the second phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. [138530]

Mr. Hill

The target construction cost of Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link remains at £2.5 billion at 1997 prices.

Mr. Rowe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the passenger figures were for Eurostar journeys in the last year for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the need for subsidy to complete the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. [138517]

Mr. Hill

The most recent passenger figures are for the year 1999 when 7,046,000 tickets were sold. This was a 4 per cent. increase on 1998. In 2000 to date Eurostar have sold 5,914,000 tickets, an increase of 11 per cent. on the same period last year.

The Government are providing Capital Grant towards both sections of the CTRL, with £78 million going towards Section 1 and £1.7 billion towards Section 2. Both figures are at 1997 prices.