§ Mr. PurchaseTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what quantitative evidence he has to show that the benefits of the planned multi-modal interchange at Wolverhampton Railway Station will exceed the costs; and if he will publish his evidence. [144930]
§ Mr. HillThe Wolverhampton Town Centre Access scheme was proposed as part of the West Midlands Local Transport Plan in July 2000. The scheme was provisionally accepted for funding in the recently announced local transport capital settlement on the basis of the appraisal information provided with the Plan. We have indicated that the appraisal requires some more work. However, it demonstrates that the present value of benefits that can be expressed in monetary terms are of the order of £22 million compared with present value costs of £9 million. There are other benefits that have not been expressed in monetary terms. I have made arrangements for a copy of the appraisal to be placed in Library.