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Rail Freight Services

Volume 270: debated on Monday 22 January 1996

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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what due diligence processes his Department has undertaken in relation to the Wisconsin Central and Loadhaul/Omnitrax bids for the British Rail Freight businesses. [9916]

All bids were evaluated in detail by British Rail and its professional advisers, and then discussed with my Department before a preferred purchaser was selected.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many railway freight grants were granted in each year since 1987; and what was their total value in each year. [10865]

The Government have awarded 28 railway freight facilities grants since 1987. The value of the awards were as follows:

  • 1987: £2,595,810
  • 1988: £651,473
  • 1989: £4,145,985
  • 1990: £765,000
  • 1991: £1,771,000
  • 1992: £7,601,500
  • 1993: £403,000
  • 1994: £2,911,720
  • 1995: £7,348,219
The full list of awards can be found in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of freight grants in encouraging the transfer of goods from road to rail. [10880]

More than 200 schemes have benefited from these grants at a cost of £90 million, removing more than 3 million lorry journeys per year from the roads.