asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will seek to amend section 8 of the Railways Act 1974 to allow assistance to be given to Freightliners Ltd. to purchase new wagons for its fleet; and if he will make a statement.

Assistance under section 8 of the Railways Act 1974 is already available to Freightliners Ltd., provided that it can meet the environmental and financial criteria which apply to all grant applications.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the additional road ton mileage consequent upon the proposed closure by British Rail of eight Freightliner depots.

On the basis of BR's forecasts, the extra road traffic will amount to less than half a per cent. of ton mileage carried by lorries in the United Kingdom, and will be mostly carried on motorways. There will be a reduction in lorry traffic in urban areas around depots.