HC Deb 11 March 2002 vol 381 cc742-3W
Mr. Drew

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the decision by EWS to reduce its cross-channel freight business. [41146]

Mr. Jamieson

EWS has made no such decision. The current reductions in cross-channel rail freight result from decisions taken by SNCF since November 2001 in the light of attacks on their staff at Frethun.

The Government are pressing the French Government at the highest levels to provide adequate policing resources at Fréthun to support the anti-intrusion measures already being installed by SNCF in order to address the disruption to channel tunnel services caused by would-be illegal immigrants.