Optimism on Channel Tunnel
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FROM OUR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
TWO-GUINEAS a ton. This—the I' average cost Of hauling freight through a Channel tunnel—was triumphantly, put to M.P.'s this week at aprivate meeting addressed by _Tunnel Co. chiefs. . The Channel advocates had reason for optimism: They reckoned that their figures could undercut the present average sea ferry charge for goods by 50 per Cent. And, , of course, the recent AngloFrench report gave their twin-bore rail tunnel project a hands-down victory over a. bridge.
Following up the report, plus the new signs of the British Government's hastening towards a decision in principle, Lord Harcourt and Mr. Leo d'Erlanger (chairman of the Channel Tunnel Company) went to the House of Commons on Tuesday to address the cross-party Channel Tunnel Parliamentary Committee. Their object was to speed forward if 'approval of a new link by -drouSie . Commons pressure for action along ti .iineS of the report
A memorandum in the hands of all If M.P.s said: "The tunnel Will be of gre: economic benefit to industry in all par of the U.K. if our transport facilities wit Europe can be improied and cheaperte "The Channel tunnel will give a ne form of door-to-door transport by road rail to the markets of Europe from a factories in Great Britain, wherevi situated."
The results of Tuesday's meeting wi most probably result in increased pressui on Mr. Marples, who 'is studying if views of a wide range of interested bodii before taking his verdict -to the °thine A decision in principle could come ear in the New Year.