Rail Closures

Mr. Watson
asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he has received from British Railways any proposal relating to closures of lines which are currently in use.

Dr. John Cunningham
asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has received any proposals from British Railways about the closure of branch lines, including the Barrow-Whitehaven-Carlisle line; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Eyre
When the British Railways Board proposes to withdraw rail passenger services from any station or stretch of line, it publishes the proposal locally and it comes to my right hon. Friend for decision if there are objections from users. Following is a complete list of current proposals in that category: -------------------------
|Railway line           |
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|Clayton West Junction- |
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|Clayton West           ||
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|Denby Dale-Sheffield   |
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|Nunnery Junction       |||
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|Woodside Junction-     |
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|Selsdon Junction       ||
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|                       ||
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|March East Junction    |
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|Spalding South Junction|||
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|Blaydon Junction-      |
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|Newcastle West Junction|||
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|—                      |
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|—                      |
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The board has not published any proposal to withdraw rail passenger services between Barrow and Carlisle.