§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what work his Department has(a)commissioned and (b)evaluated on the viability of freight traffic using the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (i) on the tracks currently under construction and (ii) using the same corridor; and if he will make a statement. [3641]
§ Mr. Jamieson[holding answer 16 July 2001]: My Department, and its predecessors, have not commissioned any studies of freight use of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the same corridor. In 1993 Union Railways evaluated the impact of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link on rail freight traffic. The results of this work were used by the Department to inform the decisions to go ahead with the construction of the Link.