Railways Bill — Bill 373 2024-26 (as amended in Committee) - html
Parliament bill publication: Bill. Commons.
Railways Bill [As amended in Committee]
Railways Bill
[As amended in Committee]
CONTENTS
Part 1
The new regime for the railways
Chapter 1
Great British Railways
Designation and status
1
Great British Railways
2
Crown status etc
Functions
3
Functions
4
Exercise of functions of Scottish and Welsh Ministers
5
Co-operation with relevant local government bodies
6
Co-operation with Transport for London
Directions and guidance
7
Directions by Secretary of State
8
Directions by Scottish Ministers
9
Guidance by Secretary of State
10
Guidance by Scottish Ministers
Licensing
11
Licensing
Financial arrangements etc
12
Funding
13
Charging and terms and conditions
14
Levy payable to ORR
Chapter 2
Exercise of railway functions
Strategies and target
15
Rail strategy
16
Duty of Great British Railways and ORR to have regard to strategies etc
17
Rail freight target
Duties
18
General duties of Ministers, Great British Railways and ORR
19
Safety duty of Ministers and ORR
20
Competition duty of ORR
21
Duty of ORR to have regard to Secretary of State’s guidance
22
Duty of ORR to have regard to Scottish Ministers’ guidance
Scotland and Wales
23
Memorandum of understanding: Secretary of State and Scottish Ministers
24
Memorandum of understanding: Secretary of State and Welsh Ministers
Part 2
Passenger and station services
Chapter 1
Passenger services
Designation and exemption of services
25
Designation of services by Secretary of State
26
Designation of services by Scottish Ministers
27
Designation of services by Welsh Ministers
28
Exemption from designation: power of Secretary of State
29
Exemption from designation: powers of Scottish and Welsh Ministers
30
Exemption from designation: supplementary
Provision of services
31
Provision of railway passenger services
32
Contracts awarded under : supplementary
Fares
33
Fares
34
Discount fare schemes
Interpretation
35
Interpretation of Chapter 1 of Part 2
Chapter 2
The Passengers’ Council
General
36
General duties of the Council
37
Keeping matters under review and collecting information
38
Exercise of functions under section
Investigations
39
Investigations
40
Power to obtain information
41
Protection of confidential information
42
Representations and referrals
43
Reports
Complaints and dispute resolution
44
Complaints
45
Dispute resolution
Standards and improvement plans
46
Standards
47
Improvement plans
Other functions
48
Advice about railway passenger services and station services
49
Consultation about railway passenger services and station services
50
Publication of information and advice
Miscellaneous
51
Power to make exclusions
52
Interpretation of Chapter 2 of Part 2
Chapter 3
The London Transport Users’ Committee
53
General duties of the LTUC
54
Collection of information by the LTUC
55
Investigations by the LTUC
56
Complaints to the LTUC
57
Publication of information and advice by the LTUC
58
Restrictions on disclosure of information by the LTUC
Part 3
Miscellaneous provisions
Chapter 1
Access to infrastructure and services
Access to and use of GBR infrastructure
59
Access and use policy
60
Infrastructure capacity plan
61
The working timetable
62
Preparation of working timetable
63
Capacity duty
64
Charging scheme
65
Performance scheme
66
Consultation
67
Appeals against access, charging and performance decisions
68
Appeal procedure
Access agreements and rights
69
Access agreements
70
Access rights
71
Operation of existing agreements and rights
Supplementary
72
Regulations about non-GBR infrastructure, facilities and services
73
Interpretation of Chapter 1 of Part 3
Chapter 2
Other provisions
The ORR
74
Monitoring Great British Railways
75
Miscellaneous functions of ORR
Publication of information
76
Publication of information by ORR
77
Publication of information by Secretary of State
78
Publication of information by Scottish Ministers
79
Publication of information by Welsh Ministers
Co-operation etc
80
Duty to consult Scottish and Welsh Ministers
81
Duty to consult mayoral combined authorities
82
Duty to consult Transport for London
83
Advice from relevant local government bodies
84
Advice from Transport for London
Removal of road vehicles
85
Charging for removal etc of road vehicles
Transfer schemes
86
Transfer schemes made by Secretary of State
87
Transfer schemes made by Scottish Ministers
88
Transfer schemes made by Welsh Ministers
89
Further provision about transfer schemes
90
Transfer of staff to the Passengers’ Council
Licensing etc of train drivers
91
Licensing etc of train drivers
International interests in railway rolling stock
92
Cape Town Convention and Luxembourg Protocol
Part 4
General
93
Minor and consequential amendments
94
Power of Secretary of State to make consequential provision
95
Regulations
96
General interpretation
97
Extent
98
Commencement
99
Short title
Schedule 1
Licensing of Great British Railways
Schedule 2
Funding Great British Railways
Part 1
Funding by the Secretary of State
Part 2
Funding by the Scottish Ministers
Part 3
Subsidy Control
Part 4
Interpretation
Schedule 3
Transfer schemes
Schedule 4
Minor and consequential amendments
[As amended in Committee]
A
bill
to
Make provision about railways and railway services; and for connected purposes.
B
e it enacted
by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by
the authority of the same, as follows:—
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Part
1
The
new regime for the railways
Chapter
1
Great
British Railways
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Designation
and status
1
Great British Railways
The
Secretary of State may by regulations designate a body corporate as Great
British
Railways.
2
Crown status etc
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(1)
Great British Railways is not to be regarded as a servant or agent of the
Crown,
or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown.
(2)
Great British Railways’ property is not to be regarded as property of, or
property
held on behalf of, the Crown.
(3)
Service as a member of staff of Great British Railways is not service in the
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civil
service of the State.
(4)
Employment by Great British Railways is not Crown employment for the
purposes
of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992
(see
section 273 of that Act).
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(5)
The Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers and the Welsh Ministers are not
to
be regarded as shadow directors of Great British Railways for the purpose
of
any provision of the Companies Acts.
(6)
This section is not to be read as preventing the exercise of functions by Great
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British
Railways on behalf of the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or
the
Welsh Ministers under arrangements made by the Secretary of State, the
Scottish
Ministers or the Welsh Ministers.
(7)
In this section “the Companies Acts” has the same meaning as in the
Companies
Act 2006 (see section 2(1) of that Act).
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Functions
3
Functions
(1)
Great British Railways has the following general functions—
(a)
managing, operating, maintaining, renewing and improving railway
infrastructure,
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(b)
providing railway passenger services,
(c)
determining the fares payable for travel on the railway passenger
services
it provides,
(d)
selling tickets for travel on railway passenger services or securing that
tickets
are available for sale,
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(e)
providing services to facilitate the provision and use of railway
services,
including where the railway services are provided by persons
other
than Great British Railways,
(f)
carrying out research and development and supporting innovation in
relation
to railways and railway services, and
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(g)
publishing advice and standards on matters related to railways and
railway
services.
(2)
Great British Railways’ function under
subsection (1)
(a)
includes—
(a)
making strategic plans as to the future provision of railway
infrastructure
in Great Britain and implementing those plans, and
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(b)
making decisions about access to, and the use of, railway infrastructure
for
the operation of trains.
(3)
The Secretary of State may by regulations confer on Great British Railways
such
other functions relating to railways or railway services as the Secretary
of
State considers appropriate.
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(4)
In this Act “statutory functions”, in relation to Great British Railways, means—
(a)
the functions mentioned in
subsection (1)
,
(b)
any functions conferred by regulations under
subsection (3)
,
(c)
the power under
section 13
to charge and set terms and conditions,
and
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(d)
any other functions conferred by this or any other Act, or by a statutory
instrument,
that are exercisable by Great British Railways,
but
does not include any functions under the 2016 Regulations so far as
relating
to service facilities or the supply of services.
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(5)
As well as, or instead of, exercising its statutory functions itself, Great British
Railways
may exercise those functions through one or more GBR companies.
(6)
Nothing in
this section
or
section 13
is to be read as limiting any powers
which
Great British Railways has as a result of being a body corporate.
4
Exercise of functions of Scottish and Welsh Ministers
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(1)
The Scottish Ministers and the Welsh Ministers may each make arrangements
for
any of their functions relating to railways or railway services to be
exercised
on their behalf by—
(a)
Great British Railways,
(b)
a subsidiary of Great British Railways,
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(c)
in the case of functions of the Scottish Ministers, a company jointly
owned
by the Scottish Ministers and Great British Railways, or
(d)
in the case of functions of the Welsh Ministers, a company jointly
owned
by the Welsh Ministers and Great British Railways.
(2)
Before making, varying or revoking arrangements under this section the
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Ministers
must consult—
(a)
the Secretary of State, and
(b)
Great British Railways.
(3)
The Ministers on whose behalf functions are to be exercised in accordance
with
arrangements under this section must publish a document setting out
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the
terms of the arrangements.
(4)
Arrangements under this section do not affect the Ministers’ responsibility
for
the exercise of their functions.
(5)
Where arrangements under this section provide for the exercise of functions
by
Great British Railways,
section 3
(5)
applies in relation to the functions as
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it
applies in relation to statutory functions of Great British Railways.
(6)
Where arrangements under this section provide for the exercise of functions
by
Great British Railways or a GBR company, the functions in question are
to
be treated for the purposes of sections
7
to
10
,
13
and
16
to
19
as statutory
functions
of Great British Railways (instead of as functions of the Scottish
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Ministers
or the Welsh Ministers).
5
Co-operation with relevant local government bodies
(1)
Great British Railways may enter into arrangements with a relevant local
government
body about the exercise by Great British Railways of its statutory
functions
in relation to railways and railway services in the body’s area.
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(2)
The arrangements may include arrangements under which sums become due
from
the body to Great British Railways.
(3)
A relevant local government body and Great British Railways must provide
to
each other such information—
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(a)
as the other reasonably requires for the purpose of exercising its
functions
in relation to railways and railway services, and
(b)
which it is lawful to disclose apart from
this subsection
.
(4)
For the purpose of
subsection (3)
a reference to the functions of Great British
Railways
in relation to railways and railway services is to be read as a
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reference
to its statutory functions in relation to railways and railway services
in
the body’s area.
(5)
In
this section
“a relevant local government body” means—
(a)
a mayoral combined authority,
(b)
a mayoral combined county authority, or
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(c)
a Passenger Transport Executive for an integrated transport area.
6
Co-operation with Transport for London
(1)
Section 175 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (co-operation) is
amended
as follows.
(2)
For the heading substitute “Co-operation with Great British Railways”.
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(3)
In subsection (1), in the words before paragraph (a), for “the Secretary of
State”
substitute “Great British Railways”.
(4)
In subsection (1B), for “The Secretary of State” substitute “Great British
Railways”.
(5)
In subsections (2) and (2A), for “the Secretary of State” substitute “Great
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British
Railways”.
(6)
For subsection (3) substitute—
“
(3)
For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2) a reference to the functions
of
Great British Railways is to be read as a reference to Great British
Railways’
statutory functions (within the meaning of the Railways Act
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2026)
in relation to railways in Greater London and London railway
passenger
and goods services.
”
(7)
In subsection (3A)—
(a)
after “passenger” insert “or goods”, and
(b)
after “passengers”, in both places it occurs, insert “or goods”.
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Directions
and guidance
7
Directions by Secretary of State
(1)
The Secretary of State may give directions to Great British Railways as to the
exercise
of its statutory functions.
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(2)
A direction under this section may provide, in particular, that a function is
only
to be exercised—
(a)
after consulting the Secretary of State, or
(b)
with the Secretary of State’s consent.
(3)
The Secretary of State may vary or revoke a direction under this section.
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(4)
The Secretary of State—
(a)
must obtain the consent of the Scottish Ministers before exercising
powers
under this section, other than powers relating to functions
under
Chapter 1
of
Part 3
, in a manner that directly affects the exercise
by
Great British Railways of functions—
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]
(i)
on behalf of the Scottish Ministers in accordance with
arrangements
made under section 4, or
(ii)
under a contract awarded under section 31(3)(b), and
(b)
must obtain the consent of the Welsh Ministers before exercising
powers
under this section, other than powers relating to functions
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under
Chapter 1
of
Part 3
, in a manner that directly affects the exercise
by
Great British Railways of functions—
(i)
on behalf of the Welsh Ministers in accordance with
arrangements
made under section 4, or
(ii)
under a contract awarded under section 31(4)(b).
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(5)
The Secretary of State must publish—
(a)
a direction under this section, and
(b)
any variation or revocation of the direction.
(6)
The duty to comply with a direction under this section is enforceable by the
Secretary
of State in civil proceedings—
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(a)
for an injunction,
(b)
for specific performance of a statutory duty under section 45 of the
Court
of Session Act 1988, or
(c)
for any other appropriate remedy or relief.
8
Directions by Scottish Ministers
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(1)
The Scottish Ministers may give directions to Great British Railways as to the
exercise
in Scotland of its statutory functions so far as relating to Scottish
railway
activities.
(2)
A direction under this section may provide, in particular, that a function is
only
to be exercised—
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(a)
after consulting the Scottish Ministers, or
(b)
with the Scottish Ministers’ consent.
(3)
The Scottish Ministers may vary or revoke a direction under this section.
(4)
Before giving, varying or revoking a direction under this section the Scottish
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Ministers
must consult the Secretary of State.
(5)
The Scottish Ministers must publish—
(a)
a direction under this section, and
(b)
any variation or revocation of the direction under
subsection (3)
.
(6)
The duty to comply with a direction under this section is enforceable by the
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Scottish
Ministers in civil proceedings—
(a)
for an injunction,
(b)
for specific performance of a statutory duty under section 45 of the
Court
of Session Act 1988, or
(c)
for any other appropriate remedy or relief.
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(7)
The Secretary of State may revoke a direction given under this section if—
(a)
the direction is inconsistent or in conflict with a direction given under
section
7
,
(b)
it appears to the Secretary of State that the direction will affect railway
activities
that are not Scottish railway activities, or
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(c)
it appears to the Secretary of State that the direction, or any part of
it—
(i)
would not be within the legislative competence of the Scottish
Parliament
if it were contained in an Act of that Parliament,
and
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(ii)
does not relate to matters in relation to which the Scottish
Ministers
have functions.
(8)
Before revoking a direction under
subsection (7)
the Secretary of State must
consult
the Scottish Ministers.
(9)
The Secretary of State must publish any revocation of a direction under
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]
subsection
(7)
.
(10)
In this section “Scottish railway activities” has the same meaning as in
Schedule
2
(see
paragraph 16
).
9
Guidance by Secretary of State
(1)
The Secretary of State may give guidance to Great British Railways as to the
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exercise
of its statutory functions.
(2)
The Secretary of State may vary or revoke guidance given under this section.
(3)
Subsection
(4)
of
section 7
applies to the power of the Secretary of State to
give
guidance under this section as it applies to the power of the Secretary
of
State to give directions under that section.
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(4)
The Secretary of State must publish—
(a)
guidance given under this section, and
(b)
any variation or revocation of the guidance.
(5)
Great British Railways must have regard to guidance given under this section.
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]
10
Guidance by Scottish Ministers
(1)
The Scottish Ministers may give guidance to Great British Railways as to the
exercise
of its statutory functions in Scotland so far as relating to Scottish
railway
activities.
(2)
The Scottish Ministers may vary or revoke guidance given under
this section
.
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]
(3)
The Scottish Ministers must publish—
(a)
guidance given under
this section
, and
(b)
any variation or revocation of the guidance.
(4)
Great British Railways must have regard to guidance given under
this section
.
(5)
In
this section
“Scottish railway activities” has the same meaning as in
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Schedule
2
(see
paragraph 16
).
Licensing
11
Licensing
Schedule
1
contains provision in relation to the licensing of Great British
Railways.
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]
Financial
arrangements etc
12
Funding
Schedule
2
contains provision in relation to funding the activities of Great
British
Railways.
13
Charging and terms and conditions
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]
(1)
Great British Railways may make such charges, and set such terms and
conditions,
for things done in the exercise of its statutory functions as it thinks
fit.
(2)
Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to a statutory function to the extent
that
provision as to charges or terms and conditions for the exercise of the
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function
is made—
(a)
by or under another provision of this Act, or
(b)
by or under any other Act.
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14
Levy payable to ORR
(1)
The ORR may by notice require Great British Railways to pay to it a levy.
(2)
The notice must provide for—
(a)
the period in respect of which the levy is payable (“the charging
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period”),
(b)
the amount of the levy which is payable in respect of that period, and
(c)
how and when payments are to be made.
(3)
The amount of a levy in respect of a charging period must be such amount
as
the ORR reasonably expects to incur in exercising its railway functions in
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respect
of the charging period.
(4)
Provision under
subsection (2)
(c)
may, in particular, include provision for
payment
by instalments.
(5)
The ORR may revise a notice under
this section
by a further notice.
(6)
The ORR may refund any amount which, further to any revised notice under
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]
subsection
(5)
, appears to have been overpaid to it.
(7)
In
this section
“railway functions” means the functions of the ORR relating
to
railways and railway services, other than its safety functions.
Chapter
2
Exercise
of railway functions
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Strategies
and target
15
Rail strategy
(1)
The Secretary of State must prepare and publish a document that sets out the
Secretary
of State’s long term strategy for—
(a)
the development and use of the railway network in Great Britain, and
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(b)
the railway services that the Secretary of State wishes to see provided
in
Great Britain.
(2)
That document is referred to in this section and
section 16
as “the rail
strategy”.
(3)
The rail strategy may not contain provision about functions of the Scottish
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Ministers.
(4)
The Secretary of State—
(a)
must keep the rail strategy under review, and
(b)
may revise or replace it.
(5)
If the Secretary of State revises or replaces the rail strategy the Secretary of
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State
must publish the revised or replacement strategy.
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(6)
When preparing, revising or replacing the rail strategy, the Secretary of State
must
consult the Welsh Ministers and the Passengers’ Council.
(7)
The requirement in
subsection (6)
may be satisfied in relation to the
preparation
of the rail strategy by consultation before this section comes into
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force
(as well as by consultation after that time).
16
Duty of Great British Railways and ORR to have regard to strategies etc
(1)
Subsection
(2)
applies in relation to—
(a)
the exercise by Great British Railways of its statutory functions, and
(b)
the exercise by the ORR of its functions relating to railways and
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railway
services, other than—
(i)
its safety functions;
(ii)
its functions relating to the licensing or certification of persons
who
drive trains used to provide railway services;
(iii)
the functions exercisable by it by virtue of section 67(3) of the
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Railways
Act 1993.
(2)
When exercising their functions they must have regard to—
(a)
the rail strategy,
(b)
the Wales Transport Strategy published under section 2 of the
Transport
(Wales) Act 2006, and
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]
(c)
the strategy published by the Scottish Ministers under section 5 of the
Railways
Act 2005.
(3)
When exercising its statutory functions, Great British Railways must have
regard
to—
(a)
the local transport plan of each mayoral combined authority and each
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mayoral
combined county authority, and
(b)
the Mayor of London’s transport strategy.
17
Rail freight target
(1)
The Secretary of State must set and publish a target to increase the use of the
railway
network in Great Britain for the carriage of goods.
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(2)
The Secretary of State—
(a)
must keep the target under review, and
(b)
may revise or replace it.
(3)
If the Secretary of State revises or replaces the target the Secretary of State
must
publish the revised or replacement target.
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]
(4)
Great British Railways must, when exercising its statutory functions, have
regard
to—
(a)
the target set by the Secretary of State under this section, and
(b)
any strategy or policy of the Scottish Ministers relating to the use of
the
railway network in Scotland for the carriage of goods.
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Duties
18
General duties of Ministers, Great British Railways and ORR
(1)
This section applies in relation to—
(a)
the exercise by the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers and the
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]
Welsh
Ministers of their functions relating to railways and railway
services,
(b)
the exercise by Great British Railways of its statutory functions, and
(c)
the exercise by the ORR of its functions relating to railways and
railway
services, other than—
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]
(i)
its safety functions;
(ii)
its functions relating to the licensing or certification of persons
who
drive trains used to provide railway services;
(iii)
the functions exercisable by it by virtue of section 67(3) of the
Railways
Act 1993.
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]
(2)
They must exercise the functions—
(a)
in the manner best calculated to promote the interests of users and
potential
users of railway passenger services including, in particular,
the
needs of disabled persons,
(b)
in the manner best calculated to promote the use of the railway
[page
10:
line
20
]
network
in Great Britain for the carriage of goods,
(c)
so as to promote high standards of railway service performance,
(d)
so as to enable persons providing railway services to plan the future
of
their businesses with a reasonable degree of assurance,
(e)
in the manner best calculated to be in the public interest, and
[page
10:
line
25
]
(f)
taking into account the costs that will need to be met from public
funds
and the need to make efficient use of those funds,
balancing
the requirements of paragraphs
(a)
to
(f)
as seems to them
appropriate
in the circumstances.
(3)
In this section—
“
[page
10:
line
30
]
disabled
person”
means a person who is a disabled person for the
purposes
of the Equality Act 2010 (see section 6(2) and (4) of, and
Schedule
28 to, that Act);
“
public
interest”
includes, in particular, the public interest in—
(a)
the social and economic benefits derived from railway services,
[page
10:
line
35
]
and
(b)
the effect the provision of railway services has on the
environment;
“
railway
service performance”
includes, in particular, performance in
securing
each of the following in relation to railway services—
[page
10:
line
40
]
(a)
reliability (including punctuality), and
(b)
the avoidance or mitigation of passenger overcrowding.
[
p
age
11
]
(4)
In its application in relation to the exercise by Great British Railways of its
statutory
functions, this section has effect subject to
section 63
(GBR’s capacity
duty).
19
Safety duty of Ministers and ORR
[page
11:
line
5
]
(1)
This section applies in relation to—
(a)
the exercise by the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers and the
Welsh
Ministers of their functions relating to railways and railway
services,
and
(b)
the exercise by the ORR of its functions relating to railways and
[page
11:
line
10
]
railway
services, other than—
(i)
its safety functions;
(ii)
its functions relating to the licensing or certification of persons
who
drive trains used to provide railway services;
(iii)
the functions exercisable by it by virtue of section 67(3) of the
[page
11:
line
15
]
Railways
Act 1993.
(2)
When exercising those functions, they must take into account the need to
protect
all persons from dangers arising from the operation of railways.
20
Competition duty of ORR
(1)
This section applies in relation to the exercise by the ORR of its functions
[page
11:
line
20
]
relating
to railways and railway services, other than—
(a)
its safety functions;
(b)
its functions relating to the licensing or certification of persons who
drive
trains used to provide railway services;
(c)
its functions under
Schedule 2
;
[page
11:
line
25
]
(d)
its functions under
Chapter 1
of
Part 3
;
(e)
its functions under sections 55 to 58 of the Railways Act 1993;
(f)
the functions exercisable by it by virtue of section 67(3) of that Act;
(g)
its functions under
section 69A
of that Act.
(2)
The ORR must exercise the functions in the manner which it considers best
[page
11:
line
30
]
calculated
to promote competition in the provision of railway services for the
benefit
of users of railway services.
21
Duty of ORR to have regard to Secretary of State’s guidance
(1)
The Secretary of State may give the ORR guidance as to the exercise of its
functions
relating to railways and railway services.
[page
11:
line
35
]
(2)
But guidance given under this section may not contain provision as to the
exercise
by the ORR of—
(a)
the functions exercisable by it by virtue of section 67(3) of the Railways
Act
1993,
[
p
age
12
]
(b)
its functions as an enforcing authority for the purposes of the Health
and
Safety at Work etc Act 1974, or
(c)
its functions relating to the licensing or certification of persons who
drive
trains used to provide railway services.
[page
12:
line
5
]
(3)
The Secretary of State may vary or revoke guidance given under this section.
(4)
Before giving, varying or revoking guidance under this section the Secretary
of
State must consult the Welsh Ministers.
(5)
The Secretary of State must publish—
(a)
guidance given under this section, and
[page
12:
line
10
]
(b)
any variation or revocation of the guidance.
(6)
The ORR must have regard to guidance given under this section.
22
Duty of ORR to have regard to Scottish Ministers’ guidance
(1)
The Scottish Ministers may give guidance to the ORR as to the exercise of its
functions—
[page
12:
line
15
]
(a)
relating to railway services wholly or partly in Scotland, or
(b)
otherwise relating to railways in Scotland.
(2)
But guidance given under this section may not contain provision as to the
exercise
by the ORR of—
(a)
the functions exercisable by it by virtue of section 67(3) of the Railways
[page
12:
line
20
]
Act
1993,
(b)
its functions as an enforcing authority for the purposes of the Health
and
Safety at Work etc Act 1974, or
(c)
its functions relating to the licensing or certification of persons who
drive
trains used to provide railway services.
[page
12:
line
25
]
(3)
The Scottish Ministers may vary or revoke guidance given under this section.
(4)
The Scottish Ministers must publish—
(a)
guidance given under this section, and
(b)
any variation or revocation of the guidance.
(5)
The ORR must have regard to guidance given under this section.
[page
12:
line
30
]
Scotland
and Wales
23
Memorandum of understandingSecretary of State and Scottish Ministers
(1)
The Secretary of State and the Scottish Ministers must prepare and publish
a
memorandum of understanding setting out how they will work together
in
the exercise of their respective functions in relation to railways and railway
[page
12:
line
35
]
services.
(2)
The memorandum may, in particular—
[
p
age
13
]
(a)
contain provision about the role that the Scottish Ministers are to have
in
relation to the governance and management of Great British
Railways,
(b)
set out the objectives of the Secretary of State and the Scottish Ministers
[page
13:
line
5
]
in
relation to the integration of the management and operation of the
railway
passenger services to be provided under
section 31
(3)
and
railway
infrastructure in Scotland, and any steps they intend to take
in
order to facilitate such integration,
(c)
set out arrangements for sharing information between the Secretary
[page
13:
line
10
]
of
State and the Scottish Ministers,
(d)
contain provision about the use to be made of the powers to give
directions
under sections
7
and
8
,
(e)
set out how the memorandum is to be published, and
(f)
set out arrangements for reviewing and amending the memorandum.
[page
13:
line
15
]
24
Memorandum of understandingSecretary of State and Welsh Ministers
(1)
The Secretary of State and the Welsh Ministers must prepare and publish a
memorandum
of understanding setting out how they will work together in
the
exercise of their respective functions in relation to railways and railway
services.
[page
13:
line
20
]
(2)
The memorandum may, in particular—
(a)
contain provision about the role that the Welsh Ministers are to have
in
relation to the governance and management of Great British
Railways,
(b)
identify those services that involve the carriage of passengers by
[page
13:
line
25
]
railway
in England that the Secretary of State and the Welsh Ministers
would
like to be provided together with services designated by the
Welsh
Ministers under
section 27
,
(c)
set out the objectives of the Secretary of State and the Welsh Ministers
in
relation to the integration of the management and operation of
[page
13:
line
30
]
Welsh
services and the railway infrastructure required for their
operation,
and any steps they intend to take in order to facilitate such
integration,
(d)
set out arrangements for sharing information between the Secretary
of
State and the Welsh Ministers,
[page
13:
line
35
]
(e)
contain provision about the use to be made of the power to give
directions
under section 7,
(f)
set out how the memorandum is to be published, and
(g)
set out arrangements for reviewing and amending the memorandum.
[
p
age
14
]
Part
2
Passenger
and station services
Chapter
1
Passenger
services
[page
14:
line
5
]
Designation
and exemption of services
25
Designation of services by Secretary of State
(1)
The Secretary of State must designate railway passenger services, or a
description
of railway passenger services, the provision of which may be
secured
by the Secretary of State under section
31
.
[page
14:
line
10
]
(2)
The Secretary of State may not designate railway passenger services which
are,
or designate a description of railway passenger services which includes—
(a)
Scotland-only services, or
(b)
Wales-only services.
(3)
The Secretary of State is not required to designate—
[page
14:
line
15
]
(a)
cross-border services already designated by the Scottish Ministers
under
section 26
, or
(b)
Welsh services so far as already designated by the Welsh Ministers
under
section
27
.
(4)
The Secretary of State may vary or revoke a designation.
[page
14:
line
20
]
(5)
The Secretary of State must consult the Scottish Ministers before—
(a)
designating a cross-border service, or a description of services which
includes
a cross-border service, or
(b)
varying or revoking a designation of a cross-border service, or a
description
of services which includes a cross-border service.
[page
14:
line
25
]
(6)
The Secretary of State must publish a designation under this section, and any
variation
or revocation of a designation under this section, in such manner
as
the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
26
Designation of services by Scottish Ministers
(1)
The Scottish Ministers must designate railway passenger services, or a
[page
14:
line
30
]
description
of railway passenger services—
(a)
which may be provided by the Scottish Ministers under section
31
, or
(b)
the provision of which may be secured by the Scottish Ministers under
that
section.
(2)
The Scottish Ministers may only designate railway passenger services, or a
[page
14:
line
35
]
description
of railway passenger services, if the services are—
(a)
Scotland-only services,
[
p
age
15
]
(b)
cross-border services which the Scottish Ministers consider should be
provided
together with designated Scotland-only services, or
(c)
cross-border services which were provided by, or the provision of
which
was secured by, the Scottish Ministers under section 30 of the
[page
15:
line
5
]
Railways
Act 1993 immediately before this section came into force.
(3)
The Scottish Ministers may vary or revoke a designation.
(4)
The Scottish Ministers must consult the Secretary of State before—
(a)
designating a cross-border service, or a description of services which
includes
a cross-border service, or
[page
15:
line
10
]
(b)
varying or revoking a designation of a cross-border service, or a
description
of services which includes a cross-border service.
(5)
The Scottish Ministers must publish a designation under this section, and any
variation
or revocation of a designation under this section, in such manner
as
they consider appropriate.
[page
15:
line
15
]
27
Designation of services by Welsh Ministers
(1)
The Welsh Ministers must designate railway passenger services, or a
description
of railway passenger services—
(a)
which may be provided by the Welsh Ministers under section
31
, or
(b)
the provision of which may be secured by the Welsh Ministers under
[page
15:
line
20
]
that
section.
(2)
The Welsh Ministers may only designate railway passenger services, or a
description
of railway passenger services, if the services are—
(a)
Wales-only services, or
(b)
Welsh components of Welsh services which the Welsh Ministers
[page
15:
line
25
]
consider
should be provided together with designated Wales-only
services.
(3)
The Welsh Ministers may vary or revoke a designation under this section.
(4)
The Welsh Ministers must publish a designation under this section, and any
variation
or revocation of a designation under this section, in such manner
[page
15:
line
30
]
as
they consider appropriate.
28
Exemption from designationpower of Secretary of State
(1)
The Secretary of State may by regulations provide that railway passenger
services
specified in the regulations are exempt from designation under this
Chapter.
[page
15:
line
35
]
(2)
The Secretary of State may not specify Scotland-only services or Wales-only
services
in the regulations.
(3)
The Secretary of State must consult—
(a)
the Scottish Ministers before making regulations under this section
specifying
cross-border services, and
[
p
age
16
]
(b)
the Welsh Ministers before making regulations under this section
specifying
Welsh services.
29
Exemption from designationpowers of Scottish and Welsh Ministers
(1)
The Scottish Ministers may by regulations provide that Scotland-only services
[page
16:
line
5
]
specified
in the regulations are exempt from designation under
this Chapter
.
(2)
Regulations under
subsection (1)
are subject to the negative procedure (see
section
28
of the
Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010
(asp
10)).
(3)
The Welsh Ministers may by regulations made by Welsh statutory instrument
[page
16:
line
10
]
provide
that Wales-only services specified in the regulations are exempt from
designation
under
this Chapter
.
(4)
Regulations under
subsection (3)
are subject to the Senedd annulment
procedure.
30
Exemption from designationsupplementary
[page
16:
line
15
]
(1)
Regulations under
section 28
or
29
may specify—
(a)
passenger railway services provided by a description of persons or a
particular
person;
(b)
passenger railway services generally, a description of services or a
particular
service, or a part of any such services or service.
[page
16:
line
20
]
(2)
Regulations under
section 28
or
29
may provide that the passenger railway
services
specified in the regulations are exempt from designation under this
Chapter—
(a)
subject to compliance with conditions specified in the regulations;
(b)
for a period specified in or determined in accordance with the
[page
16:
line
25
]
regulations.
Provision
of services
31
Provision of railway passenger services
(1)
The Secretary of State may secure the provision of a railway passenger service
designated
under
section 25
.
[page
16:
line
30
]
(2)
The Secretary of State may do so only by making a direct award of a public
service
contract in accordance with regulation 17 of the 2023 Regulations
(general
direct award provision for rail)—
(a)
to one or more of Great British Railways or a GBR company, or
(b)
where the function of securing the provision of the service is being
[page
16:
line
35
]
exercised
by the Welsh Ministers under arrangements made under
section
83 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (agency arrangements),
to
one or more public sector companies.
[
p
age
17
]
(3)
The Scottish Ministers may—
(a)
provide a railway passenger service designated under
section 26
themselves,
or
(b)
secure the provision of the service by making a direct award of a
[page
17:
line
5
]
public
service contract to one or more public sector companies in
accordance
with regulation 17 of the 2023 Regulations.
(4)
The Welsh Ministers may—
(a)
provide a railway passenger service designated under
section 27
themselves,
or
[page
17:
line
10
]
(b)
secure the provision of the service by making a direct award of a
public
service contract to one or more public sector companies in
accordance
with regulation 17 of the 2023 Regulations.
(5)
Where a public service contract is awarded under this section to a GBR
company,
sections
7
to
10
,
13
and
16
to
18
have effect in relation to the exercise
[page
17:
line
15
]
by
the company of its functions of providing railway passenger services under
the
contract as they have effect in relation to the exercise by Great British
Railways
of its statutory functions.
(6)
For the purposes of
this section
—
(a)
the Scottish Ministers and the Welsh Ministers have power—
[page
17:
line
20
]
(i)
to provide network services, station services and light
maintenance
services, and
(ii)
to store goods or consign them from a place to which they
have
been carried by rail,
(b)
the Scottish Ministers have power to provide Scotland-only services
[page
17:
line
25
]
and
cross-border services, and
(c)
the Welsh Ministers have power to provide Wales-only services and
Welsh
components of Welsh services.
32
Contracts awarded under
section 31
: supplementary
(1)
A public service contract awarded under
section 31
may include provision
[page
17:
line
30
]
requiring
the person or persons to whom the contract is awarded to operate,
or
secure the operation of, any additional railway asset.
(2)
Subject to any requirements imposed by or under this Act, the Railways Act
1993
or the 2023 Regulations, the contract may contain any such provisions
as
the contracting authority thinks fit.
[page
17:
line
35
]
(3)
Regulation 22 of the 2023 Regulations (pre-award publication) does not apply
in
relation to an award of a public service contract under section
31
.
(4)
In this section—
“
additional
railway asset”
means any network, station or light
maintenance
depot, and a reference to an additional railway asset
[page
17:
line
40
]
includes
a reference to any part of an additional railway asset;
“
contracting
authority”
—
[
p
age
18
]
(a)
in the case of a public service contract awarded by the Secretary
of
State, means the Secretary of State;
(b)
in the case of a public service contract awarded by the Scottish
Ministers,
means the Scottish Ministers;
[page
18:
line
5
]
(c)
in the case of a public service contract awarded by the Welsh
Ministers,
means the Welsh Ministers.
Fares
33
Fares
(1)
A power to give a direction under section
7
or
8
may be exercised to give a
[page
18:
line
10
]
direction
to Great British Railways as to the general level and structure of
fares
for travel on railway passenger services designated under section
25
or
26
by the giver of the direction.
(2)
A power to give guidance under
section 9
or
10
may be exercised to give
guidance
as to the general level and structure of fares for travel on railway
[page
18:
line
15
]
passenger
services designated under section
25
or
26
by the giver of the
guidance.
(3)
A public service contract awarded under
section 31
may include provision
as
to the general level and structure of fares for travel on the railway passenger
services
to which the contract relates.
[page
18:
line
20
]
34
Discount fare schemes
(1)
Great British Railways must provide a scheme enabling persons who are
young,
elderly or disabled to travel at discounted fares on railway passenger
services
provided by participants in the scheme.
(2)
Great British Railways may provide other schemes enabling travel at
[page
18:
line
25
]
discounted
fares on railway passenger services provided by participants in
the
schemes.
(3)
A scheme under
this section
may make the availability of discounted fares
subject
to compliance with any conditions imposed by or under the scheme.
(4)
The Scottish Ministers must make arrangements, in relation to railway
[page
18:
line
30
]
passenger
services provided under section
31
(3)
(a)
, enabling persons who are
young,
elderly or disabled to travel at discounted fares on the services.
(5)
The Welsh Ministers must make arrangements, in relation to railway passenger
services
provided under section
31
(4)
(a)
, enabling persons who are young,
elderly
or disabled to travel at discounted fares on the services.
[page
18:
line
35
]
(6)
A public service contract awarded under
section 31
—
(a)
must require the person to whom the contract is awarded to make
arrangements
enabling persons who are young, elderly or disabled to
travel
at discounted fares on the railway passenger services to which
the
contract relates;
[
p
age
19
]
(b)
may specify the arrangements to be made, including by specifying
that
the person to whom the contract is awarded must participate in
a
scheme provided by Great British Railways under
subsection (1)
;
(c)
may include other provision about enabling persons who are young,
[page
19:
line
5
]
elderly
or disabled to travel at discounted fares on the services.
(7)
Subsection (6)
does not preclude a public service contract awarded under
section
31
from including other provision enabling travel at discounted fares
on
the railway passenger services to which the contract relates.
(8)
In
this section
“discounted fare”, in relation to a railway passenger service,
[page
19:
line
10
]
means
a lower fare than the standard fare payable for travel on the service.
Interpretation
35
Interpretation of
Chapter 1
of
Part 2
In
this Chapter—
“
the
2023 Regulations”
means the Public Service Obligations in Transport
[page
19:
line
15
]
Regulations
2023 (S.I. 2023/1369);
“
direct
award”
has the same meaning as in the 2023 Regulations (see
regulation
2(1));
“
public
sector company”
means—
(a)
Great British Railways,
[page
19:
line
20
]
(b)
a GBR company,
(c)
a company that is wholly owned by the Welsh Ministers or
the
Scottish Ministers,
(d)
a company that is jointly owned by the Secretary of State and
the
Welsh Ministers, or
[page
19:
line
25
]
(e)
a company that is jointly owned by the Secretary of State and
the
Scottish Ministers;
“
public
service contract”
has the same meaning as in the 2023 Regulations
(see
regulation 2(1)).
Chapter
2
[page
19:
line
30
]
The
Passengers’ Council
General
36
General duties of the Council
When
exercising its functions relating to railways and railway services, the
Passengers’
Council—
[page
19:
line
35
]
(a)
must have particular regard to the interests and needs of disabled
persons,
and
[
p
age
20
]
(b)
must take into account any costs that will need to be met from public
funds,
and the need to make efficient use of those funds.
37
Keeping matters under review and collecting information
(1)
The Passengers’ Council must, so far as it appears expedient—
[page
20:
line
5
]
(a)
keep under review matters affecting the interests of the public in
relation
to railway passenger services and station services,
(b)
make representations to, and consult, such persons as they think
appropriate
about those matters, and
(c)
co-operate with other bodies representing the interests of users of
[page
20:
line
10
]
public
passenger transport services.
(2)
The Passengers’ Council may, with a view to facilitating the exercise of its
functions
relating to railways and railway services, collect information with
respect
to matters affecting the interests of the public in relation to railway
passenger
services and station services.
[page
20:
line
15
]
38
Exercise of functions under section
37
(1)
The Passengers’ Council and any other public body may enter into an
agreement
for that other body to be responsible, in accordance with the
agreement,
for—
(a)
determining what is expedient for the purposes of
subsection (1)
of
[page
20:
line
20
]
section
37
in relation to an area specified in the agreement, and
(b)
otherwise performing the Council’s functions under that subsection
in
relation to that area.
(2)
While an agreement under this section is in force—
(a)
the functions of the Passengers’ Council under
section 37
are treated,
[page
20:
line
25
]
in
relation to the area specified in the agreement, as falling on the
other
party to it instead of on the Council, but
(b)
the Council is not to be prevented from doing anything mentioned in
that
section in relation to that area.
(3)
An agreement under this section—
[page
20:
line
30
]
(a)
may be entered into on such terms and conditions as the parties to it
may
agree, and
(b)
may contain provision for determining for the purposes of this section
the
circumstances in which things done under or for the purposes of
section
37
are to be treated as done in relation to the area specified in
[page
20:
line
35
]
the
agreement.
(4)
The consent of the Secretary of State is required before the Passengers’ Council
and
another public body may enter into, vary or terminate an agreement
under
this section.
(5)
In this section “public body” means any authority or other body on which
[page
20:
line
40
]
functions
are conferred by or under—
[
p
age
21
]
(a)
an Act,
(b)
an Act of the Scottish Parliament, or
(c)
an Act or Measure of Senedd Cymru.
Investigations
[page
21:
line
5
]
39
Investigations
(1)
The Passengers’ Council must investigate any matter relating to the provision
of
railway passenger services or station services, if—
(a)
the matter is the subject of a representation made to the Council by
a
user or potential user of railway passenger services,
[page
21:
line
10
]
(b)
the matter is the subject of a representation made to the Council by
an
organisation representative of users or potential users of railway
passenger
services,
(c)
the matter is referred to the Council for investigation by the Secretary
of
State, the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers or the ORR,
[page
21:
line
15
]
(d)
the matter relates to an alleged infringement of Regulation (EC) No.
1371/2007
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23rd
October
2007 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations, or
(e)
it appears to the Council that the matter is one that the Council ought
to
investigate.
[page
21:
line
20
]
(2)
The Passengers’ Council is not required to investigate a matter in a case
falling
within
subsection (1)
(a)
or
(b)
if the matter appears to the Council to
be
frivolous or vexatious.
(3)
If any matter falling within
subsection (1)
(a)
or
(b)
appears to the Passengers’
Council
to relate only to—
[page
21:
line
25
]
(a)
the provision of railway passenger services wholly within the London
railway
area (within the meaning of section 252A of the Greater
London
Authority Act 1999), or
(b)
the provision of station services within that area,
the
Council must refer the matter to the London Transport Users’ Committee
[page
21:
line
30
]
instead
of investigating the matter itself.
40
Power to obtain information
(1)
If the Passengers’ Council is carrying out an investigation under
section 39
,
it may request a person who provides or operates railway passenger services
or
station services to provide any information which the Council considers
[page
21:
line
35
]
necessary
for the purpose of carrying out the investigation.
(2)
The person must provide the information within a reasonable period specified
by
the Passengers’ Council unless—
(a)
the person does not have the information and cannot reasonably obtain
it,
or
[
p
age
22
]
(b)
the provision of the information would impose an unreasonable burden
on
the person.
(3)
Before specifying a period for the purposes of
subsection (2)
, the Passengers’
Council
must consult the person who is to be required to provide the
[page
22:
line
5
]
information
about the period that should be specified.
(4)
A person who relies on
paragraph (a)
or
(b)
of
subsection (2)
must notify the
Passengers’
Council in writing of that fact, stating the reason why the
paragraph
in question applies.
(5)
If the Passengers’ Council has requested information under this section and
[page
22:
line
10
]
considers
that it has not received a satisfactory response to that request—
(a)
the Council may refer the matter to the ORR, and
(b)
the ORR may take such action (if any) as it thinks appropriate.
41
Protection of confidential information
(1)
This section applies to any information provided to the Passengers’ Council
[page
22:
line
15
]
pursuant
to
section 40
(2)
if—
(a)
the person who provided the information has requested that the
information
be held in confidence, and
(b)
a person would not be entitled to the information in response to a
request
made in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000
[page
22:
line
20
]
by
virtue of the exemptions in section 41 or 43 of that Act.
(2)
Information to which this section applies must not—
(a)
be included in any investigation report published under
section 43
,
(b)
be published under
section 50
, or
(c)
be disclosed by the Passengers’ Council to any other person.
[page
22:
line
25
]
(3)
Nothing in this section affects—
(a)
any power of the Passengers’ Council to disclose confidential
information
to the Secretary of State or the ORR in the course of
representations
or a referral made under
section 42
, or
(b)
any obligation of the Council to disclose information in order to comply
[page
22:
line
30
]
with
an order of a court or tribunal.
42
Representations and referrals
(1)
Having investigated a matter under
section 39
—
(a)
the Passengers’ Council may make representations to such persons as
it
thinks appropriate for the purpose of achieving a satisfactory
[page
22:
line
35
]
resolution
of the matter, and
(b)
where the Council has reason to believe—
(i)
that the holder of a licence is contravening, or likely to
contravene,
any condition of the licence, or
(ii)
that the holder of a railway undertaking licence which
[page
22:
line
40
]
authorises
the carriage of passengers by railway is contravening,
[
p
age
23
]
or
likely to contravene, any condition of the licence or of a
SNRP
issued to the holder of the licence pursuant to the
Railway
(Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2005
(S.I.
2005/3050),
[page
23:
line
5
]
it
must refer the contravention or likely contravention to the ORR and
inform
the Secretary of State that it has done so.
(2)
But
subsection (1)
(b)
does not require the Passengers’ Council to refer a
contravention
or likely contravention to the ORR if the Council exercises its
power
under
section 47
to require the preparation of a plan in relation to the
[page
23:
line
10
]
contravention
or likely contravention.
(3)
Where a contravention or likely contravention is referred to the ORR under
this
section, the ORR must—
(a)
take such action (if any) as it thinks appropriate for the purpose of
remedying
or preventing the contravention, and
[page
23:
line
15
]
(b)
inform the Passengers’ Council and the Secretary of State of—
(i)
any action it has taken, or
(ii)
if it has decided not to take action, of that decision and the
reasons
for it.
43
Reports
[page
23:
line
20
]
(1)
Where the Passengers’ Council has investigated a matter under
section 39
it
may
prepare a report of its findings.
(2)
The Passengers’ Council may send a copy of the report to one or more of the
following—
(a)
the Secretary of State;
[page
23:
line
25
]
(b)
the Welsh Ministers;
(c)
the Scottish Ministers;
(d)
Great British Railways;
(e)
the ORR;
(f)
if the matter investigated relates to the London railway area (within
[page
23:
line
30
]
the
meaning of section 252A of the Greater London Authority Act
1999),
the London Transport Users’ Committee;
(g)
any other person the Council thinks fit.
(3)
The Passengers’ Council may publish the report.
(4)
Where the report was prepared following an investigation carried out as a
[page
23:
line
35
]
result
of a referral under
section 39
(1)
(c)
by the Secretary of State, the Scottish
Ministers
or the Welsh Ministers (“the referring authority”), the Passengers’
Council
must obtain the referring authority’s consent before—
(a)
exercising its power under
subsection (2)
to send a copy of the report
to
a person other than the referring authority;
[page
23:
line
40
]
(b)
exercising its power under
subsection (3)
to publish the report.
[
p
age
24
]
(5)
Where the report was prepared following an investigation carried out as a
result
of a referral under
section 39
(1)
(c)
by the ORR, the Passengers’ Council
must
inform the ORR before exercising its power under
subsection (3)
to
publish
the report.
[page
24:
line
5
]
Complaints
and dispute resolution
44
Complaints
The
Passengers’ Council is designated as a body to which complaints may
be
made about an alleged infringement of Regulation (EC) No. 1371/2007 of
the
European Parliament and of the Council of 23rd October 2007 on rail
[page
24:
line
10
]
passengers’
rights and obligations in relation to—
(a)
the provision of railway passenger services, or
(b)
the provision of station services.
45
Dispute resolution
The
Passengers’ Council must establish and maintain a scheme under which
[page
24:
line
15
]
an
impartial person is available to resolve disputes between—
(a)
users or potential users of railway passenger services or station
services,
and
(b)
providers of those services.
Standards
and improvement plans
[page
24:
line
20
]
46
Standards
(1)
The Passengers’ Council may set standards to be complied with—
(a)
by persons providing railway passenger services and station services
under
a licence, and
(b)
by persons providing railway passenger services under a railway
[page
24:
line
25
]
undertaking
licence which authorises the carriage of passengers by
railway.
(2)
The matters that may be covered by the standards include—
(a)
access to railway passenger services and station services for disabled
persons
and other persons who require assistance,
[page
24:
line
30
]
(b)
the information to be provided to users and potential users of railway
passenger
services to enable them to plan travel, and to rearrange it
appropriately
in the event of disruption to the services,
(c)
the process for paying compensation to users of railway passenger
services
in the event of disruption to the services, and
[page
24:
line
35
]
(d)
how complaints about railway passenger services are to be dealt with.
(3)
The Passengers’ Council must monitor compliance with standards set under
this
section.
[
p
age
25
]
(4)
The Passengers’ Council may vary or revoke standards set under this section.
(5)
The consent of the Secretary of State and the ORR is required before the
Passengers’
Council sets, varies or revokes standards under this section.
(6)
The Passengers’ Council must publish—
[page
25:
line
5
]
(a)
standards set under this section, and
(b)
any variation or revocation of such standards.
47
Improvement plans
(1)
If, in the course of carrying out an investigation under
section 39
, or
monitoring
compliance with standards set under
section 46
, the Passengers’
[page
25:
line
10
]
Council
has reason to believe that—
(a)
a person providing railway passenger services or station services under
a
licence is contravening, or likely to contravene any condition of the
licence,
or
(b)
a person providing railway passenger services under a railway
[page
25:
line
15
]
undertaking
licence which authorises the carriage of passengers by
railway
is contravening, or likely to contravene, any condition of the
licence
or of a SNRP issued to the holder of the licence pursuant to
the
Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2005
(S.I.
2005/3050),
[page
25:
line
20
]
the
Council may require the person to prepare a plan setting out steps the
person
will take to remedy the contravention, or to avoid it taking place or
being
repeated.
(2)
If the person fails to take the steps set out in the plan, or fails to prepare a
plan
within a reasonable time, the Passengers’ Council must refer the matter
[page
25:
line
25
]
to
the ORR and inform the Secretary of State that it has done so.
(3)
Where a matter is referred to the ORR under this section, the ORR must—
(a)
take such action (if any) as it thinks appropriate for the purpose of
remedying
the contravention, or avoiding it taking place or being
repeated,
and
[page
25:
line
30
]
(b)
inform the Passengers’ Council and the Secretary of State of—
(i)
any action it has taken, or
(ii)
if it has decided not to take action, of that decision and the
reasons
for it.
Other
functions
[page
25:
line
35
]
48
Advice about railway passenger services and station services
(1)
The Passengers’ Council must consider any matter affecting the interests of
the
public in relation to railway passenger services or station services—
(a)
that is referred to it by—
(i)
the Secretary of State,
[
p
age
26
]
(ii)
the Scottish Ministers,
(iii)
the Welsh Ministers,
(iv)
a mayoral strategic authority,
(v)
the ORR,
[page
26:
line
5
]
(vi)
Great British Railways,
(vii)
a passenger service operator, or
(viii)
the operator of a station, or
(b)
that the Council considers it appropriate to consider without such a
reference.
[page
26:
line
10
]
(2)
On considering a matter under this section the Passengers’ Council must give
such
advice to such persons as it considers appropriate.
49
Consultation about railway passenger services and station services
(1)
Great British Railways must consult the Passengers’ Council when—
(a)
Great British Railways is developing or changing its policies or
[page
26:
line
15
]
procedures
relating to the matters mentioned in
subsection (2)
, and
(b)
it appears to Great British Railways that the development or change
will
significantly affect the interests of the public in relation to railway
passenger
services or station services.
(2)
Those matters are—
[page
26:
line
20
]
(a)
the rights of users and potential users of railway passenger services
and
station services including, in particular, disabled persons,
(b)
how disruption to railway passenger services is to be dealt with,
(c)
the compensation to be paid to users of railway passenger services in
the
event of such disruption,
[page
26:
line
25
]
(d)
the information to be provided to users and potential users of railway
passenger
services,
(e)
the determination of fares payable for travel on railway passenger
services,
(f)
the sale of tickets for travel on railway passenger services, and
[page
26:
line
30
]
(g)
any other matter affecting users and potential users of railway
passenger
services and station services.
50
Publication of information and advice
(1)
The Passengers’ Council may arrange for the publication, in such form and
manner
as it considers appropriate, of such information and advice as may
[page
26:
line
35
]
appear
to it expedient to give to users or potential users of railway passenger
services
and station services.
(2)
In arranging for the publication of any such information or advice the
Passengers’
Council must have regard to the need for excluding, so far as is
practicable—
[
p
age
27
]
(a)
any matter which relates to the affairs of an individual, where
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of the
Council,
seriously and prejudicially affect the interests of that
individual,
and
[page
27:
line
5
]
(b)
any matter which relates specifically to the affairs of a particular body
of
persons, whether corporate or unincorporate, where publication of
that
matter would or might, in the opinion of the Council, seriously
and
prejudicially affect the interests of that body.
Miscellaneous
[page
27:
line
10
]
51
Power to make exclusions
(1)
The Secretary of State may by regulations—
(a)
exclude services from one or more of the duties imposed by sections
37
to
43
,
45
and
48
;
(b)
provide that one or more of those duties applies to services of a
[page
27:
line
15
]
particular
class or description, particular services or services provided
by
a particular person only to such extent as is specified in the
regulations,
or
(c)
provide that one or more of those duties applies with specified
modifications
in the case of services of a particular class or description,
[page
27:
line
20
]
particular
services or services provided by a particular person.
(2)
Before making regulations under this section, the Secretary of State must
consult
the Passengers’ Council and the London Transport Users’ Committee.
(3)
The power to make exclusions by regulations under this section includes—
(a)
power to exclude services of a particular class or description, particular
[page
27:
line
25
]
services
or services provided by a particular person, and
(b)
power to provide that services are excluded subject to compliance
with
specified conditions.
(4)
Regulations under this section may not revoke an exclusion except—
(a)
for breach of a condition, or
[page
27:
line
30
]
(b)
in accordance with the regulations that made it.
52
Interpretation of
Chapter 2
of
Part 2
(1)
In this Chapter —
“
disabled
person”
means a person who is a disabled person for the
purposes
of the Equality Act 2010 (see section 6(2) and (4) of, and
[page
27:
line
35
]
Schedule
28 to, that Act);
“
railway
undertaking licence”
and “SNRP” have the same meaning as
in
the Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2005
(S.I.
2005/3050) (see regulation 2(1)).
[
p
age
28
]
(2)
In this Chapter, any reference to railway passenger services includes a
reference
to bus substitution services required to be provided in place of any
such
services.
Chapter
3
[page
28:
line
5
]
The
London Transport Users’ Committee
53
General duties of the LTUC
After
section 252 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 insert—
“
252ZA
General railways duties of Committee
(1)
When exercising its functions relating to railways and railway services,
[page
28:
line
10
]
the
Committee—
(a)
must have particular regard to the interests and needs of
disabled
persons, and
(b)
must take into account any costs that will need to be met from
public
funds, and the need to make efficient use of those funds.
[page
28:
line
15
]
(2)
In this section “disabled person” means a person who is a disabled
person
for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 (see section 6(2) and
(4)
of, and Schedule 28 to, that Act).
”
54
Collection of information by the LTUC
(1)
Section 252A of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (committee to keep
[page
28:
line
20
]
railways
matters under review) is amended as follows.
(2)
After subsection (1) insert—
“
(1A)
The Committee may, with a view to facilitating its functions under
this
section and sections 252B to
252DB
, collect information with respect
to
matters affecting the interests of the public in relation to—
[page
28:
line
25
]
(a)
railway passenger services provided wholly or partly within
the
London railway area, and
(b)
station services provided within that area.
”
(3)
In the heading, after “review” insert “and collect information”.
55
Investigations by the LTUC
[page
28:
line
30
]
(1)
The Greater London Authority Act 1999 is amended as follows.
(2)
In section 252B (references to Committee in relation to railways), in subsection
(1)—
(a)
after paragraph (a) insert—
“
(aa)
it is the subject of a representation made to the
[page
28:
line
35
]
Committee
by an organisation representative of users
or
potential users of railway passenger services;
”
,
[
p
age
29
]
(b)
omit the “or” at the end of paragraph (b), and
(c)
after that paragraph insert—
“
(ba)
it relates to an alleged infringement of Regulation (EC)
No.
1371/2007 of the European Parliament and of the
[page
29:
line
5
]
Council
of 23rd October 2007 on rail passengers’ rights
and
obligations, or
”
.
(3)
In subsection (2) of that section, omit the words from “in a case” to the end
of
the subsection.
(4)
In subsection (5) of that section, for “subsection (1)(a)” substitute “subsection
[page
29:
line
10
]
(1)(a)
or
(aa)
”.
(5)
After that section insert—
“
252BA
Power to obtain information
(1)
If the Committee is carrying out an investigation under section 252B,
it
may request a person who provides or operates railway passenger
[page
29:
line
15
]
services
or station services to provide any information which the
Committee
considers necessary for the purpose of carrying out the
investigation.
(2)
The person must provide the information within a reasonable period
specified
by the Committee unless—
[page
29:
line
20
]
(a)
the person does not have the information and cannot reasonably
obtain
it, or
(b)
the provision of the information would impose an unreasonable
burden
on the person.
(3)
Before specifying a period for the purposes of
subsection (2)
, the
[page
29:
line
25
]
Committee
must consult the person who is to be required to provide
the
information about the period that should be specified.
(4)
A person who relies on
paragraph (a)
or
(b)
of
subsection (2)
must
notify
the Committee in writing of that fact, stating the reason why
the
paragraph in question applies.
[page
29:
line
30
]
(5)
If the Committee has requested information under this section and
considers
that it has not received a satisfactory response to that
request—
(a)
the Committee may refer the matter to the Office of Rail and
Road,
and
[page
29:
line
35
]
(b)
the Office of Rail and Road may take such action (if any) as it
thinks
appropriate.
(6)
Subsection (2) of section 252A applies for the purposes of this section
as
it applies for the purposes of that section.
[
p
age
30
]
252BB
Protection of confidential information
(1)
This section applies to any information provided to the Committee
pursuant
to
section 252BA
(2)
if—
(a)
the person who provided the information has requested that
[page
30:
line
5
]
the
information be held in confidence, and
(b)
a person would not be entitled to the information in response
to
a request made in accordance with the Freedom of
Information
Act 2000 by virtue of the exemptions in section 41
or
43 of that Act.
[page
30:
line
10
]
(2)
Information to which this section applies must not—
(a)
be included in any investigation report published under section
252D,
(b)
be published under
section 252DB
, or
(c)
be disclosed by the Committee to any other person.
[page
30:
line
15
]
(3)
Nothing in this section affects—
(a)
any power of the Committee to disclose confidential information
to
the Secretary of State or the Office of Rail and Road in the
course
of representations or a referral made under
section 252C
,
or
[page
30:
line
20
]
(b)
any obligation of the Committee to disclose information in
order
to comply with an order of a court or tribunal.
”
(6)
For section 252C substitute—
“
252C
Action on investigation under section 252B
(1)
Having investigated a matter under section 252B—
[page
30:
line
25
]
(a)
the Committee may make representations to such persons as
it
thinks appropriate for the purpose of achieving a satisfactory
resolution
of the matter, and
(b)
where the Committee has reason to believe—
(i)
that the holder of a licence under Part 1 of the Railways
[page
30:
line
30
]
Act
1993 is contravening, or likely to contravene, any
condition
of the licence, or
(ii)
that the holder of a railway undertaking licence which
authorises
the carriage of passengers by railway is
contravening,
or likely to contravene, any condition of
[page
30:
line
35
]
the
licence or of a SNRP issued to the holder of the
licence
pursuant to the Railway (Licensing of Railway
Undertakings)
Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/3050),
it
must refer the contravention or likely contravention to the
Office
of Rail and Road and inform the Secretary of State that
[page
30:
line
40
]
it
has done so.
(2)
Where a contravention or likely contravention is referred to the Office
of
Rail and Road under this section, the Office of Rail and Road must—
[
p
age
31
]
(a)
take such action (if any) as it thinks appropriate for the purpose
of
remedying or preventing the contravention, and
(b)
inform the Committee and the Secretary of State of—
(i)
any action it has taken, or
[page
31:
line
5
]
(ii)
if it has decided not to take action, of that decision and
of
the reasons for it.
(3)
In this section “railway undertaking licence” and “SNRP” have the
same
meaning as in the Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertakings)
Regulations
2005 (S.I. 2005/3050) (see regulation 2(1)).
”
[page
31:
line
10
]
(7)
For section 252D substitute—
“
252D
Reports on investigation
(1)
Where the Committee has investigated a matter under section 252B it
may
prepare a report of its findings.
(2)
The Committee may send the report to one or more of the following—
[page
31:
line
15
]
(a)
the Secretary of State;
(b)
Great British Railways;
(c)
the Office of Rail and Road;
(d)
the Passengers’ Council;
(e)
any other person the Committee thinks fit.
[page
31:
line
20
]
(3)
The Committee may publish the report.
(4)
Where the report was prepared following an investigation carried out
as
a result of a referral under section 252B(1)(b) by the Secretary of
State,
the Committee must obtain the Secretary of State’s consent
before—
[page
31:
line
25
]
(a)
exercising its power under
subsection (2)
to send a copy of the
report
to a person other than the Secretary of State;
(b)
exercising its power under
subsection (3)
to publish the report.
(5)
Where the report was prepared following an investigation carried out
as
a result of a referral under section 252B(1)(b) by the Office of Rail
[page
31:
line
30
]
and
Road, the Committee must inform the ORR before exercising its
power
under
subsection (3)
to publish the report.
”
56
Complaints to the LTUC
After
section 252D of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (substituted by
section
55
(7)
of this Act) insert—
“
[page
31:
line
35
]
252DA
Complaints
(1)
The Committee is designated as a body to which complaints may be
made
about an alleged infringement of Regulation (EC) No. 1371/2007
of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 23rd October 2007
on
rail passengers’ rights and obligations in relation to—
[
p
age
32
]
(a)
railway passenger services provided wholly or partly within
the
London railway area, or
(b)
station services provided within that area.
(2)
Subsection (2) of section 252A applies for the purposes of this section
[page
32:
line
5
]
as
it applies for the purposes of that section.
”
57
Publication of information and advice by the LTUC
After
section 252DA
of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (inserted by
section
56
of this Act) insert—
“
252DB
Publication of information and advice
[page
32:
line
10
]
(1)
The Committee may arrange for the publication, in such form and
manner
as it considers appropriate, of such information and advice
as
may appear to it expedient to give to users or potential users of—
(a)
railway passenger services provided wholly or partly within
the
London railway area, and
[page
32:
line
15
]
(b)
station services provided within that area.
(2)
In arranging for the publication of any such information or advice the
Committee
must have regard to the need for excluding, so far as that
is
practicable—
(a)
any matter which relates to the affairs of an individual, where
[page
32:
line
20
]
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of
the
Committee, seriously and prejudicially affect the interests
of
that individual, and
(b)
any matter which relates specifically to the affairs of a particular
body
of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate, where
[page
32:
line
25
]
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of
the
Committee, seriously and prejudicially affect the interests
of
that body.
”
58
Restrictions on disclosure of information by the LTUC
After
section 252DB
of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (inserted by
[page
32:
line
30
]
section
57
of this Act) insert—
“
252DC
Restrictions on disclosure of information
Section
145 of the Railways Act 1993 (general restrictions on disclosure
of
information) applies in relation to information obtained by the
Committee
under or by virtue of section 252A or
252BA
of this Act
[page
32:
line
35
]
as
it applies in relation to information obtained by the Passengers’
Council
under or by virtue of the Railways Act 2026.
”
[
p
age
33
]
Part
3
Miscellaneous
provisions
Chapter
1
Access
to infrastructure and services
[page
33:
line
5
]
Access
to and use of GBR infrastructure
59
Access and use policy
(1)
Great British Railways must issue one or more documents setting out its
policy
about, and procedures for, access to and the use of GBR infrastructure
for
the operation of trains.
[page
33:
line
10
]
(2)
The document or documents must—
(a)
set out the procedure for applications to Great British Railways for
access
to and the use of GBR infrastructure for the operation of trains
other
than GBR passenger services,
(b)
set out the criteria that Great British Railways intends to apply—
[page
33:
line
15
]
(i)
when making decisions on such applications, and
(ii)
when dealing with competing demands for access to and the
use
of GBR infrastructure,
(c)
set out a procedure for resolving disputes relating to the working
timetable
(see
section 61
(2)
)
,
[page
33:
line
20
]
(d)
include provision about the carrying out of work to maintain and
improve
GBR infrastructure and the effect of such work on the
operation
of trains,
(e)
include provision about the procedure for allowing access to and the
use
of GBR infrastructure by trains that cross the border between the
[page
33:
line
25
]
United
Kingdom and France, and
(f)
include provision about how disruption affecting GBR infrastructure
or
the operation of trains that use GBR infrastructure is to be dealt
with.
(3)
The document or documents may also set out the terms on which access to,
[page
33:
line
30
]
and
the use of, GBR infrastructure for the operation of trains is to be permitted.
(4)
Great British Railways may revise or replace a document issued under this
section.
(5)
Great British Railways must publish—
(a)
any document issued under this section, and
[page
33:
line
35
]
(b)
any revision or replacement of such a document.
(6)
A person aggrieved by provision contained in a document issued under this
section,
or in a revision or replacement of it, may appeal to the ORR.
[
p
age
34
]
60
Infrastructure capacity plan
(1)
Great British Railways must issue one or more documents setting out how,
in
its view, the best use can be made of GBR infrastructure for the operation
of
trains.
[page
34:
line
5
]
(2)
A document issued under this section must specify the period for which it
is
to have effect.
(3)
Great British Railways may at any time revise or replace a document issued
under
this section.
(4)
When preparing, revising or replacing the document or documents Great
[page
34:
line
10
]
British
Railways must have regard to the need to accommodate—
(a)
GBR passenger services,
(b)
other railway passenger services,
(c)
services for the carriage of goods by railway, and
(d)
the maintenance and improvement of GBR infrastructure.
[page
34:
line
15
]
(5)
Great British Railways must publish—
(a)
any document issued under this section, and
(b)
any revision or replacement of such a document.
(6)
A person aggrieved by provision contained in a document issued under this
section,
or in a revision or replacement of it, may appeal to the ORR.
[page
34:
line
20
]
61
The working timetable
(1)
Great British Railways must, at such intervals as it considers appropriate,
issue—
(a)
a timetable defining all planned train movements which will take place
on
GBR infrastructure during the period for which it is in force, or
[page
34:
line
25
]
(b)
two or more timetables which, taken together, define all such
movements.
(2)
A timetable issued under
subsection (1)
is referred to as a “working timetable”.
(3)
Great British Railways may revise a working timetable so as to—
(a)
add a train movement to the timetable,
[page
34:
line
30
]
(b)
change or remove a planned train movement,
(c)
allow for the carrying out of work to maintain or improve GBR
infrastructure,
(d)
deal with disruption affecting GBR infrastructure or the operation of
trains,
or
[page
34:
line
35
]
(e)
change the period for which the timetable is in force.
(4)
A planned train movement that is not a GBR passenger service may be
changed
or removed under
subsection (3)
(b)
only if the operator of the train
agrees.
[
p
age
35
]
(5)
Agreement under
subsection (4)
may be general or specific, and the ways in
which
it may be given include it being given—
(a)
in accordance with the terms set out as mentioned in
section 59
(3)
;
(b)
by means of, or in accordance with, provision contained in an
[page
35:
line
5
]
agreement
or other document to which Great British Railways and
the
operator are parties.
(6)
A person who applies to Great British Railways for a train movement to be
added
to the working timetable under
subsection (3)
(a)
may appeal to the
ORR
against—
[page
35:
line
10
]
(a)
a decision not to add the movement to the timetable, or
(b)
any conditions subject to which the movement is added to the
timetable.
62
Preparation of working timetable
(1)
Great British Railways must take the following steps before issuing a working
[page
35:
line
15
]
timetable
under
section 61
(1)
.
(2)
Great British Railways must invite applications for the inclusion of train
movements
other than GBR passenger services in the working timetable.
(3)
The invitation is to be issued by publishing a notice, which must specify—
(a)
the period within which applications may be made, and
[page
35:
line
20
]
(b)
the information that must accompany applications.
(4)
Great British Railways must prepare a draft of the working timetable, and
when
doing so must consider applications for the inclusion of train movements
made
before the end of the period specified under
subsection (3)
(a)
.
(5)
Great British Railways must send the draft it has prepared to any person who
[page
35:
line
25
]
made
such an application, stating the period within which representations
may
be made with respect to the timetable.
(6)
Great British Railways must consider any representations made by such a
person
before the end of that period, and must make any revisions it considers
appropriate.
[page
35:
line
30
]
(7)
A person who makes an application under
subsection (2)
may appeal to the
ORR
against a decision made on the application by Great British Railways.
63
Capacity duty
(1)
This section applies to Great British Railways when exercising the following
functions—
[page
35:
line
35
]
(a)
deciding whether to permit any person to access or use GBR
infrastructure
for the operation of trains other than GBR passenger
services;
(b)
preparing a draft of a working timetable;
(c)
issuing or revising a working timetable.
[
p
age
36
]
(2)
Great British Railways must exercise the functions so as to ensure that it
retains
sufficient capacity over GBR infrastructure to allow for—
(a)
the operation of GBR passenger services and of railway passenger
services
that it expects will in future be GBR passenger services, and
[page
36:
line
5
]
(b)
the carrying out of work necessary to maintain and improve GBR
infrastructure.
64
Charging scheme
(1)
Great British Railways must make a scheme setting out the charges to be
made
by Great British Railways—
[page
36:
line
10
]
(a)
for access to and the use of GBR infrastructure for the operation of
trains,
and
(b)
in relation to trains which are planned to use GBR infrastructure but
do
not operate, or do not operate in full.
(2)
Subject as follows, the charges set out in the scheme under
subsection (1)
(a)
[page
36:
line
15
]
in
relation to the operation of a train must be set at the cost that is directly
incurred
as a result of the operation of the train.
(3)
The scheme may provide for a higher amount to be charged in particular
circumstances
provided that it does not exceed the amount that Great British
Railways
considers is the amount that an efficient operator would be able to
[page
36:
line
20
]
pay
in those circumstances.
(4)
The scheme may provide for a lower amount to be charged in circumstances
in
which Great British Railways considers that to be appropriate—
(a)
in order to encourage the use of GBR infrastructure where there is
spare
capacity,
[page
36:
line
25
]
(b)
in order to promote new services for the carriage of passengers or
goods
by railway,
(c)
in order to give effect to directions under
section 7
or
8
,
(d)
as a result of having had regard to guidance under
section 9
or
10
, or
(e)
for any other reason.
[page
36:
line
30
]
(5)
The scheme may not provide for charges to be made in relation to GBR
passenger
services, but must include sufficient information as to the costs for
the
access to and use of GBR infrastructure for the operation of those services
to
explain how the charges set out in the scheme have been calculated.
(6)
Great British Railways may at any time revise or replace a scheme made
[page
36:
line
35
]
under
this section.
(7)
Great British Railways must publish—
(a)
any scheme made under this section, and
(b)
any revision or replacement of the scheme.
(8)
A person aggrieved by provision contained in a scheme made under this
[page
36:
line
40
]
section,
or in a revision or replacement of it, may appeal to the ORR.
[
p
age
37
]
65
Performance scheme
(1)
Great British Railways must make a scheme which contains provision designed
to
encourage—
(a)
Great British Railways to take appropriate steps to minimise disruption
[page
37:
line
5
]
that
is caused to the operation of trains by problems affecting GBR
infrastructure,
and
(b)
persons who operate trains that use GBR infrastructure to take
appropriate
steps to minimise disruption to that infrastructure and to
the
operation of other trains using it.
[page
37:
line
10
]
(2)
The scheme may, in particular, include provision for Great British Railways
and
persons who operate trains that use GBR infrastructure—
(a)
to be required to pay penalties for causing disruption to the operation
of
trains,
(b)
to receive compensation for disruption caused to the operation of
[page
37:
line
15
]
trains,
and
(c)
to receive bonuses that reward better than planned performance of
trains
or GBR infrastructure.
(3)
But the scheme may not provide for penalties or compensation—
(a)
in relation to any disruption caused to the operation of a train by
[page
37:
line
20
]
another
train operated by the same person, or
(b)
to be paid by Great British Railways in relation to any disruption that
is
outside its control.
(4)
The scheme may—
(a)
require information of a description specified in the scheme to be
[page
37:
line
25
]
provided
to Great British Railways at times and in a manner so
specified,
and
(b)
provide for such persons not to be entitled to receive compensation
and
bonuses under the scheme if they fail to comply with the
requirement.
[page
37:
line
30
]
(5)
Great British Railways may at any time revise or replace a scheme made
under
this section.
(6)
Great British Railways must publish—
(a)
any scheme made under this section, and
(b)
any revision or replacement of the scheme.
[page
37:
line
35
]
(7)
A person aggrieved by provision contained in a scheme made under this
section,
or in a revision or replacement of it, may appeal to the ORR.
66
Consultation
(1)
Great British Railways must consult the ORR, the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh
Ministers
and such other persons as it considers appropriate before issuing,
[page
37:
line
40
]
revising
or replacing a document under
section 59
.
[
p
age
38
]
(2)
Great British Railways must consult such persons as it considers appropriate
before—
(a)
issuing, revising or replacing a document under
section 60
,
(b)
issuing a working timetable under
section 61
, and
[page
38:
line
5
]
(c)
before making, revising or replacing a scheme under
section 64
or
65
.
(3)
The requirements in this section in relation to issuing a document or timetable
or
making a scheme may be satisfied by consultation before this section comes
into
force (as well as by consultation after that time).
67
Appeals against access, charging and performance decisions
[page
38:
line
10
]
(1)
This section applies in relation to a decision made by Great British Railways—
(a)
as to access to or the use of GBR infrastructure for the operation of
trains,
or
(b)
under a scheme made under
section 64
or
65
.
(2)
A person aggrieved by the decision may appeal to the ORR.
[page
38:
line
15
]
68
Appeal procedure
(1)
When determining an appeal under this Chapter the ORR must apply the
same
principles as would be applied—
(a)
by the High Court on an application for judicial review, or
(b)
in Scotland, on an application to the supervisory jurisdiction of the
[page
38:
line
20
]
Court
of Session.
(2)
The ORR may—
(a)
allow the appeal in whole or in part, or
(b)
dismiss the appeal.
(3)
If the ORR allows the appeal in whole or in part it may—
[page
38:
line
25
]
(a)
in the case of an appeal under
section 59
(6)
,
60
(6)
,
64
(8)
or
65
(7)
, remit
all
or part of the provision appealed against to Great British Railways
for
reconsideration, and
(b)
in the case of an appeal under
section 61
(6)
,
62
(7)
or
67
, quash all or
part
of the decision appealed against.
[page
38:
line
30
]
(4)
If the ORR quashes all or part of a decision under
subsection (3)
(b)
it may
,
in addition—
(a)
remit all or part of the decision to Great British Railways for
reconsideration,
or
(b)
substitute its own decision for the decision in question, but only if the
[page
38:
line
35
]
quashing
is on the ground that there has been an error of law and,
without
the error, there would have been only one decision which
Great
British Railways could have reached.
(5)
If the ORR remits a matter to Great British Railways for reconsideration it
may
give Great British Railways directions as to that reconsideration.
[
p
age
39
]
(6)
The Secretary of State may by regulations—
(a)
make provision about steps that must be taken before an appeal can
be
brought under this Chapter,
(b)
set fees and time limits for appeals under this Chapter, and
[page
39:
line
5
]
(c)
make provision governing the practice and procedure to be followed
in
the case of appeals under this Chapter.
(7)
Before making the regulations the Secretary of State must consult—
(a)
Great British Railways,
(b)
the ORR
[page
39:
line
10
]
(c)
the Scottish Ministers,
(d)
the Welsh Ministers, and
(e)
any other persons the Secretary of State considers appropriate to
consult.
(8)
The ORR may issue a document setting out the practice and procedure to be
[page
39:
line
15
]
followed
on appeals under this Chapter, so far as not covered by regulations
under
subsection (6)
.
(9)
The ORR may revise or replace the document.
(10)
Before issuing, revising or replacing the document, the ORR must consult—
(a)
Great British Railways,
[page
39:
line
20
]
(b)
the Secretary of State,
(c)
the Scottish Ministers,
(d)
the Welsh Ministers, and
(e)
any other persons the ORR considers appropriate to consult.
(11)
The ORR must publish—
[page
39:
line
25
]
(a)
any document issued under
subsection (8)
, and
(b)
any revision or replacement of such a document.
Access
agreements and rights
69
Access agreements
(1)
The Railways Act 1993 is amended as follows.
[page
39:
line
30
]
(2)
In section 17 (directions requiring facility owners to enter into access
agreements),
after subsection (1) insert—
“
(1A)
Where the facility owner is Great British Railways, the Office of Rail
and
Road may give directions under subsection (1) only for the purpose
specified
in subsection (2)(e).
”
[page
39:
line
35
]
(3)
In section 18 (access agreements requiring approval of ORR)—
(a)
in subsection (1), after “A facility owner” insert “other than Great
British
Railways”, and
[
p
age
40
]
(b)
after that subsection insert—
“
(1A)
Great British Railways may not, as a facility owner, enter into
an
access contract of the description specified in subsection
(2)(e)
unless one of the conditions in paragraphs (a) to (c) of
[page
40:
line
5
]
subsection
(1) is satisfied; and any such contract is void unless
one
of those conditions is satisfied.
”
(4)
In section 19(1) (installation access contracts)—
(a)
in subsection (1), after “an installation owner” insert “other than Great
British
Railways”, and
[page
40:
line
10
]
(b)
in subsection (3), after “An installation owner” insert “other than Great
British
Railways”.
(5)
In section 21 (model clauses for access contracts), after subsection (5) insert—
“
(6)
The powers of the Office of Rail and Road under subsection (5) may
not
be exercised in relation to an access contract where the facility
[page
40:
line
15
]
owner
is Great British Railways unless the access contract is of the
description
specified in section 18(2)(e).
”
(6)
In section 22 (amendment of access agreements), after subsection (1) insert—
“
(1A)
Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to an access agreement where
the
facility owner or installation owner is Great British Railways unless
[page
40:
line
20
]
the
agreement is an access contract of the description specified in
section
18(2)(e).
”
(7)
In section 22A (directions to require amendment permitting more extensive
use),
after subsection (5) insert—
“
(5A)
Directions may not be given under this section in relation to an access
[page
40:
line
25
]
agreement
where the facility owner or installation owner is Great
British
Railways unless the agreement is an access contract of the
description
specified in section 18(2)(e).
”
(8)
In section 22C (amendmentsupplementary), after subsection (1) insert—
“
(1A)
Directions may not be given under subsection (1) in relation to an
[page
40:
line
30
]
access
agreement where the facility owner or installation owner is
Great
British Railways unless the agreement is an access contract of
the
description specified in section 18(2)(e).
”
70
Access rights
(1)
The 2016 Regulations are amended as follows.
[page
40:
line
35
]
(2)
In regulation 3 (interpretation) in the definition of “infrastructure manager”,
after
“undertaking” insert “, other than Great British Railways,”.
(3)
In regulation 5 (access rights)—
[
p
age
41
]
(a)
in paragraph (1), for “A railway undertaking must be granted,”
substitute
“An infrastructure manager must grant to a railway
undertaking,”,
and
(b)
omit paragraph (8).
[page
41:
line
5
]
71
Operation of existing agreements and rights
(1)
The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about the operation
of—
(a)
access agreements that were entered into before the date on which
this
section comes into force, and
[page
41:
line
10
]
(b)
access rights granted under the 2016 Regulations,
so
far as the agreements or rights have effect in relation to GBR infrastructure.
(2)
The regulations may, in particular, provide for—
(a)
the amendment or termination of access agreements and access rights,
(b)
the imposition and exclusion of obligations or of liability,
[page
41:
line
15
]
(c)
the resolution of disputes,
(d)
the payment of compensation, and
(e)
the consent of the Secretary of State to be required in circumstances
specified
in the regulations.
(3)
No regulations may be made under this section after the end of the period
[page
41:
line
20
]
of
15 years beginning with the day on which this Act is passed.
Supplementary
72
Regulations about non-GBR infrastructure, facilities and services
(1)
The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about—
(a)
the management and operation of non-GBR infrastructure,
[page
41:
line
25
]
(b)
rights to operate trains between places using non-GBR infrastructure,
(c)
co-operation and co-ordination between Great British Railways, GBR
companies
and persons who manage or operate non-GBR infrastructure,
(d)
the provision and supply of facilities and services which facilitate the
operation
of trains, and
[page
41:
line
30
]
(e)
competition in the market or markets for the provision and supply of
such
facilities and services.
(2)
The regulations may, in particular—
(a)
make provision relating to non-GBR infrastructure that corresponds
or
is similar to, or consequential on, the provision relating to GBR
[page
41:
line
35
]
infrastructure
made by and under this Chapter;
(b)
permit functions of a person who manages or operates non-GBR
infrastructure
to be performed by a person who operates trains that
use
that infrastructure;
[
p
age
42
]
(c)
make provision about terms, conditions and charges for the use of
non-GBR
infrastructure and for the provision and supply of facilities
and
services;
(d)
make provision as to circumstances in which Great British Railways
[page
42:
line
5
]
is
to be treated as a railway undertaking for the purposes of the 2016
Regulations,
or any restatement or replacement of those regulations,
despite
any contrary provision made by this Act;
(e)
restate, or replace with such alternative provision as the Secretary of
State
considers appropriate, the 2016 regulations.
[page
42:
line
10
]
(3)
The regulations may—
(a)
include provision as to their enforcement, including by means of
criminal
offences punishable by a fine, civil sanctions (including
penalties)
or civil proceedings;
(b)
include provision for appeals in relation to anything done under or
[page
42:
line
15
]
by
virtue of the regulations;
(c)
confer functions (including discretions) on a person specified, or of a
description
specified, in the regulations;
(d)
confer power to make provision about matters arising out of or related
to
the regulations in a document issued by a person specified, or of
[page
42:
line
20
]
a
description specified, in the regulations.
(4)
The power to make regulations under this section includes power to make
consequential
provision which amends or repeals provision contained in this
or
any other Act.
(5)
Before making regulations under this section the Secretary of State must
[page
42:
line
25
]
consult
such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(6)
In this section “non-GBR infrastructure” means any network, station or track
that
is not operated by or on behalf of Great British Railways.
73
Interpretation of
Chapter 1
of
Part 3
(1)
In this Chapter—
“
[page
42:
line
30
]
GBR
infrastructure”
means railway infrastructure operated by or on
behalf
of Great British Railways;
“
GBR
passenger service”
means a railway passenger service provided
by
Great British Railways or a subsidiary of Great British Railways—
(a)
under arrangements made under
section 4
, or
[page
42:
line
35
]
(b)
under a public service contract awarded under
section 31
;
“
working
timetable”
has the meaning given by
section 61
(2)
.
(2)
The Secretary of State may by regulations amend the definition of “GBR
infrastructure”.
[
p
age
43
]
Chapter
2
Other
provisions
The
ORR
74
Monitoring Great British Railways
[page
43:
line
5
]
(1)
The Railways Act 1993 is amended as follows.
(2)
After section 69 insert—
“
69A
Additional functionmonitoring Great British Railways
(1)
The Office of Rail and Road—
(a)
must monitor the exercise of—
[page
43:
line
10
]
(i)
Great British Railways’ statutory functions, and
(ii)
any functions under arrangements made under
section
4
of the Railways Act 2026, and
(b)
may carry out such investigations as it thinks appropriate for
the
purpose of monitoring the exercise of the functions.
[page
43:
line
15
]
(2)
When monitoring the exercise of Great British Railways’ statutory
functions
the Office of Rail and Road must, in particular, consider—
(a)
whether and how the activities set out in the business plans
provided
by Great British Railways to the Office of Rail and
Road
under Schedule
2
to the Railways Act 2026 are being
[page
43:
line
20
]
carried
out,
(b)
how the cost of carrying out those activities and the income
received
compares with the estimates set out in the plan, and
(c)
whether, and the extent to which, Great British Railways’
statutory
functions are being exercised in a way that furthers
[page
43:
line
25
]
the
railway safety purposes.
(3)
In this section—
“
railway
safety purposes”
has the same meaning as in Schedule
3
to the Railways Act 2005;
“
statutory
functions”
, in relation to Great British Railways, has
[page
43:
line
30
]
the
same meaning as in the Railways Act 2026 (see
section 3
(4)
of
that Act).
”
(3)
In section 69 (general functions), after subsection (3) insert—
“
(3A)
The Office of Rail and Road may arrange for the publication, in such
form
and in such manner as it considers appropriate, of any
[page
43:
line
35
]
information
or advice given to the Secretary of State under subsection
(3)
in connection with its function under
section 69A
(monitoring Great
British
Railways).
”
[
p
age
44
]
75
Miscellaneous functions of ORR
(1)
The Railways Act 1993 is amended as follows.
(2)
In section 16A (provision, development and improvement of railway facilities),
after
subsection (3) insert—
“
[page
44:
line
5
]
(3ZA)
A direction may not be given under this section to Great British
Railways.
”
(3)
In section 55 (orders for securing compliance), after subsection (7C) insert—
“
(7D)
The Office of Rail and Road may not, by a final or provisional order,
require
the payment of a sum by Great British Railways.
”
[page
44:
line
10
]
(4)
In section 57A (penalties), after subsection (7) insert—
“
(8)
The Office of Rail and Road may not impose a penalty under this
section
on Great British Railways.
”
(5)
In section 69(3) (general functions of ORR), after “this Part” insert “or the
Railways
Act 2026”.
[page
44:
line
15
]
Publication
of information
76
Publication of information by ORR
(1)
The Railways Act 1993 is amended as follows.
(2)
After section 72 insert—
“
72A
Duty of Office of Rail and Road to publish information
[page
44:
line
20
]
(1)
The Office of Rail and Road must publish, in such manner and form
as
it considers appropriate, such documents and other information
relating
to the matters listed in
subsection (2)
as it considers
appropriate.
(2)
The matters are—
[page
44:
line
25
]
(a)
licences and railway undertaking licences;
(b)
access agreements and installation access contracts;
(c)
access contracts, other than those for the use of GBR
infrastructure;
(d)
experimental passenger services;
[page
44:
line
30
]
(e)
closures;
(f)
railway administration orders and their discharge.
(3)
When publishing documents or information under this section, the
Office
of Rail and Road must have regard to the need for excluding,
so
far as practicable—
[page
44:
line
35
]
(a)
any matter which relates to the affairs of an individual, where
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of
[
p
age
45
]
the
Office of Rail and Road, seriously and prejudicially affect
the
interests of that individual, and
(b)
any matter which relates specifically to the affairs of a particular
body
of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate, where
[page
45:
line
5
]
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of
the
Office of Rail and Road, seriously and prejudicially affect
the
interests of that body.
(4)
The Secretary of State may direct the Office of Rail and Road not to
publish
particular information or documents under this section if it
[page
45:
line
10
]
appears
to the Secretary of State that publication of that information
or
those documents would be against the public interest or the
commercial
interests of any person.
(5)
In this section—
“
experimental
passenger service”
has the same meaning as in
[page
45:
line
15
]
Part
4 of the Railways Act 2005 (see section 45(1));
“
GBR
infrastructure”
has the same meaning as in
Chapter 1
of
Part
2
of the Railways Act 2026 (see
section 73
(1)
).
”
(3)
In section 72 (keeping of register by ORR)—
(a)
omit subsections (1) to (4) and (7) to (11),
[page
45:
line
20
]
(b)
for the heading substitute “Duty to send access agreements to Office
of
Rail and Road”, and
(c)
for the italic heading before that section substitute “Information and
reporting
duties”.
(4)
The ORR may publish anything that, immediately before this section came
[page
45:
line
25
]
into
force, was contained in the register maintained under section 72 of the
Railways
Act 1993.
(5)
Section
72A
of the Railways Act 1993 does not require the ORR to publish—
(a)
any document created before the day on which this section comes into
force,
or
[page
45:
line
30
]
(b)
any information recorded, or relating to a time, before that day.
77
Publication of information by Secretary of State
(1)
For section 73 of the Railways Act 1993 substitute—
“
73
Duty of Secretary of State to publish information
(1)
The Secretary of State must publish, in such manner and form as the
[page
45:
line
35
]
Secretary
of State considers appropriate, such documents and other
information
relating to the matters listed in
subsection (2)
as the
Secretary
of State considers appropriate.
(2)
The matters are—
(a)
determinations made by the Secretary of State under section
[page
45:
line
40
]
34
of the Railways Act 2005;
[
p
age
46
]
(b)
the exercise of the Secretary of State’s powers under sections
55
and 57A of this Act.
(3)
When publishing documents or information under this section, the
Secretary
of State must have regard to the need for excluding, so far
[page
46:
line
5
]
as
practicable—
(a)
any matter which relates to the affairs of an individual, where
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of
the
Secretary of State, seriously and prejudicially affect the
interests
of that individual, and
[page
46:
line
10
]
(b)
any matter which relates specifically to the affairs of a particular
body
of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate, where
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of
the
Secretary of State, seriously and prejudicially affect the
interests
of that body.
[page
46:
line
15
]
(4)
The Secretary of State may not publish particular information or
documents
under this section if it appears to the Secretary of State
that
publication of that information or those documents would be
against
the public interest or the commercial interests of any person.
”
(2)
The Secretary of State may publish anything that, immediately before this
[page
46:
line
20
]
section
came into force, was contained in the register maintained under section
73
of the Railways Act 1993.
78
Publication of information by Scottish Ministers
(1)
For section 73A of the Railways Act 1993 substitute—
“
73A
Duty of Scottish Ministers to publish information
[page
46:
line
25
]
(1)
The Scottish Ministers must publish, in such manner and form as they
consider
appropriate, such documents and other information relating
to
the matters listed in
subsection (2)
as they consider appropriate.
(2)
The matters are—
(a)
determinations made by the Scottish Ministers under section
[page
46:
line
30
]
34
of the Railways Act 2005;
(b)
the exercise of their powers under sections 55 and 57A of this
Act.
(3)
When publishing documents or information under this section, the
Scottish
Ministers must have regard to the need for excluding, so far
[page
46:
line
35
]
as
practicable—
(a)
any matter which relates to the affairs of an individual, where
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of
the
Scottish Ministers, seriously and prejudicially affect the
interests
of that individual, and
[page
46:
line
40
]
(b)
any matter which relates specifically to the affairs of a particular
body
of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate, where
[
p
age
47
]
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of
the
Scottish Ministers, seriously and prejudicially affect the
interests
of that body.
(4)
The Scottish Ministers may not publish particular information or
[page
47:
line
5
]
documents
under this section if it appears to them that publication of
that
information or those documents would be against the public
interest
or the commercial interests of any person.
”
(2)
The Scottish Ministers may publish anything that, immediately before this
section
came into force, was contained in the register maintained under section
[page
47:
line
10
]
73A
of the Railways Act 1993.
79
Publication of information by Welsh Ministers
(1)
For section 73B of the Railways Act 1993 substitute—
“
73B
Duty of Welsh Ministers to publish information
(1)
The Welsh Ministers must publish, in such manner and form as they
[page
47:
line
15
]
consider
appropriate, such documents and other information relating
to
the matters listed in
subsection (2)
as they consider appropriate.
(2)
The matters are—
(a)
determinations made by the Welsh Ministers under section 34
of
the Railways Act 2005;
[page
47:
line
20
]
(b)
the exercise of their powers under sections 55 and 57A of this
Act.
(3)
When publishing documents or information under this section, the
Welsh
Ministers must have regard to the need for excluding, so far
as
practicable—
[page
47:
line
25
]
(a)
any matter which relates to the affairs of an individual, where
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of
the
Welsh Ministers, seriously and prejudicially affect the
interests
of that individual, and
(b)
any matter which relates specifically to the affairs of a particular
[page
47:
line
30
]
body
of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate, where
publication
of that matter would or might, in the opinion of
the
Welsh Ministers, seriously and prejudicially affect the
interests
of that body.
(4)
The Welsh Ministers may not publish particular information or
[page
47:
line
35
]
documents
under this section if it appears to them that publication of
that
information or those documents would be against the public
interest
or the commercial interests of any person.
”
(2)
The Welsh Ministers may publish anything that, immediately before this
section
came into force, was contained in the register maintained under section
[page
47:
line
40
]
73B
of the Railways Act 1993.
[
p
age
48
]
Co-operation
etc
80
Duty to consult Scottish and Welsh Ministers
(1)
Great British Railways must consult the Scottish Ministers before making a
decision
within
subsection (2)
if it appears to Great British Railways that the
[page
48:
line
5
]
decision
will significantly affect the interests of Scotland’s economy or of
persons
living in, working in or visiting Scotland.
(2)
A decision is within
this subsection
if it relates to—
(a)
a cross-border service designated under
section 25
;
(b)
additions to a part of the railway network operated by Great British
[page
48:
line
10
]
Railways
which is situated in Scotland.
(3)
Great British Railways must consult the Welsh Ministers before making a
decision
within
subsection (4)
if it appears to Great British Railways that the
decision
will significantly affect the interests of Wales’ economy or of persons
living
in, working in or visiting Wales.
[page
48:
line
15
]
(4)
A decision is within
this subsection
if it relates to—
(a)
a railway passenger service designated under
section 25
which is
provided
in Wales;
(b)
additions to a part of the railway network operated by Great British
Railways
which is situated in Wales.
[page
48:
line
20
]
(5)
Subsections (1)
or
(3)
do not apply in relation to a decision where consultation
is
not reasonably practicable, in which case Great British Railways must notify
the
Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers of the decision as soon as
reasonably
practicable.
81
Duty to consult mayoral combined authorities
[page
48:
line
25
]
(1)
Great British Railways must consult a mayoral combined authority or a
mayoral
combined county authority before making a decision within
subsection
(2)
if it appears to Great British Railways that the decision will significantly
affect
the interests of the economy of the authority’s area or of persons living
in,
working in or visiting the area.
[page
48:
line
30
]
(2)
A decision is within
this subsection
if it relates to—
(a)
a railway passenger service designated under
section 25
which is
provided
in the authority’s area;
(b)
additions to a part of the railway network operated by Great British
Railways
which is situated in the authority’s area.
[page
48:
line
35
]
(3)
The Scottish Ministers must consult a mayoral combined authority or a
mayoral
combined county authority before making a decision relating to a
railway
passenger service designated under
section 26
if—
(a)
the service is provided in the authority’s area, and
[
p
age
49
]
(b)
it appears to the Scottish Ministers that the decision will significantly
affect
the interests of the economy of the area or of persons living in,
working
in or visiting the area.
(4)
The Welsh Ministers must consult a mayoral combined authority or a mayoral
[page
49:
line
5
]
combined
county authority before making a decision relating to a railway
passenger
service designated under
section 27
if—
(a)
the service is provided in the authority’s area, and
(b)
it appears to the Welsh Ministers that the decision will significantly
affect
the interests of the economy of the area or of persons living in,
[page
49:
line
10
]
working
in or visiting the area.
(5)
Subsections (1)
,
(3)
or
(4)
do not apply in relation to a decision where
consultation
is not reasonably practicable, in which case Great British Railways,
the
Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers must notify the authority of the
decision
as soon as reasonably practicable.
[page
49:
line
15
]
82
Duty to consult Transport for London
(1)
Great British Railways must consult Transport for London before making a
decision
within
subsection (2)
if it appears to Great British Railways that the
decision
will significantly affect the interests of Greater London’s economy
or
of persons living in, working in or visiting Greater London.
[page
49:
line
20
]
(2)
A decision is within
this subsection
if it relates to—
(a)
a London railway passenger service (within the meaning of section
175
of the Greater London Authority Act 1999) designated under
section
25
;
(b)
additions to a part of the railway network operated by Great British
[page
49:
line
25
]
Railways
which is situated in Greater London.
(3)
Subsection (1)
does not apply in relation to a decision where consultation is
not
reasonably practicable, in which case Great British Railways must notify
Transport
for London of the decision as soon as reasonably practicable.
83
Advice from relevant local government bodies
[page
49:
line
30
]
(1)
A relevant local government body must provide the Secretary of State with
such
advice as the Secretary of State may reasonably require about a matter
connected
with the exercise by the Secretary of State of a function in relation
to
railways or railway services.
(2)
The reference in
subsection (1)
to a function of the Secretary of State in relation
[page
49:
line
35
]
to
railways or railway services does not include a reference to any functions
of
the Secretary of State so far as they are exercisable for or in connection
with
the railway safety purposes (within the meaning given by
Schedule 3
to
the
Railways Act 2005
).
(3)
A relevant local government body must provide Great British Railways with
[page
49:
line
40
]
such
advice as Great British Railways may reasonably require about a matter
[
p
age
50
]
connected
with the exercise by Great British Railways of a statutory function
in
relation to—
(a)
railways in the body’s area, or
(b)
railway services—
[page
50:
line
5
]
(i)
between places in the body’s area, or
(ii)
between places in the body’s area and places outside that area.
(4)
In this section “a relevant local government body” means—
(a)
a mayoral combined authority,
(b)
a mayoral combined county authority, or
[page
50:
line
10
]
(c)
a Passenger Transport Executive for an integrated transport area.
84
Advice from Transport for London
After
section 176 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 insert—
“
176A
Duty to advise Secretary of State and GBR
(1)
Transport for London must provide the Secretary of State with such
[page
50:
line
15
]
advice
as the Secretary of State may reasonably require about a matter
connected
with the exercise by the Secretary of State of a function in
relation
to railways or railway services.
(2)
The reference in subsection
(1)
to a function of the Secretary of State
in
relation to railways or railway services does not include a reference
[page
50:
line
20
]
to
any functions of the Secretary of State so far as they are exercisable
for
or in connection with the railway safety purposes (within the
meaning
given by Schedule 3 to the Railways Act 2005).
(3)
Transport for London must provide Great British Railways with such
advice
as Great British Railways may reasonably require about a matter
[page
50:
line
25
]
connected
with the exercise by Great British Railways of a statutory
function
(within the meaning of the Railways Act 2026) in relation
to—
(a)
railways in Greater London, or
(b)
railway services—
[page
50:
line
30
]
(i)
between places in Greater London, or
(ii)
between places in Greater London and places outside
Greater
London.
(4)
Expressions used in this section and in Part 1 of the Railways Act 1993
have
the same meaning in this section as in that Part.
”
[page
50:
line
35
]
Removal
of road vehicles
85
Charging for removal etc of road vehicles
(1)
Costs incurred by the operator of a network or station in relation to removing
or
storing a road vehicle that has been parked or left—
[
p
age
51
]
(a)
on land or other property comprised in the network or station, and
(b)
in contravention of bye-laws having effect in relation to the land,
are
recoverable by the operator from the person in charge of the road vehicle,
where
removal or storage is carried out in accordance with bye-laws having
[page
51:
line
5
]
effect
in relation to the land.
(2)
In this section “road vehicle” means a motor vehicle, bicycle or other
conveyance.
Transfer
schemes
86
Transfer schemes made by Secretary of State
[page
51:
line
10
]
(1)
The Secretary of State may, for any purpose connected with railways or the
provision
of railway services, make one or more schemes for the transfer of
property,
rights and liabilities—
(a)
from the Secretary of State, a government department or a company
wholly
owned by the Crown, to—
[page
51:
line
15
]
(i)
Great British Railways,
(ii)
a company wholly owned by Great British Railways,
(iii)
a proposed GBR,
(iv)
a company wholly owned by a proposed GBR, or
(v)
a company jointly owned by two or more of the Secretary of
[page
51:
line
20
]
State,
the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers, Great British
Railways
and a proposed GBR;
(b)
from Great British Railways, or a company wholly owned by Great
British
Railways, to—
(i)
the Secretary of State,
[page
51:
line
25
]
(ii)
a company wholly owned by the Crown,
(iii)
a proposed GBR,
(iv)
a company wholly owned by a proposed GBR, or
(v)
a company jointly owned by two or more of the Secretary of
State,
the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers, Great British
[page
51:
line
30
]
Railways
and a proposed GBR;
(c)
from a former GBR, or a company wholly owned by a former GBR,
to—
(i)
the Secretary of State,
(ii)
a company wholly owned by the Crown,
[page
51:
line
35
]
(iii)
Great British Railways,
(iv)
a company wholly owned by Great British Railways,
(v)
a company jointly owned by two or more of the Secretary of
State,
the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers and Great
British
Railways;
[
p
age
52
]
(d)
from a company jointly owned by two or more of the Secretary of
State,
the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers, Great British Railways
and
a proposed GBR to—
(i)
another such company,
[page
52:
line
5
]
(ii)
Great British Railways,
(iii)
a company wholly owned by Great British Railways,
(iv)
a proposed GBR, or
(v)
a company wholly owned by a proposed GBR;
(e)
from the Secretary of State or a government department to a company
[page
52:
line
10
]
wholly
owned by the Crown, or vice versa.
(2)
The Secretary of State must obtain the consent—
(a)
of the Scottish Ministers before making a scheme that contains
provision
for the transfer of property, rights and liabilities to or from
a
company jointly owned by the Scottish Ministers and one or more
[page
52:
line
15
]
other
persons, and
(b)
of the Welsh Ministers before making a scheme that contains provision
for
the transfer of property, rights and liabilities to or from a company
jointly
owned by the Welsh Ministers and one or more other persons.
87
Transfer schemes made by Scottish Ministers
[page
52:
line
20
]
(1)
The Scottish Ministers may, for any purpose connected with railways or the
provision
of railway services, make one or more schemes for the transfer of
property,
rights and liabilities—
(a)
from the Scottish Ministers, or a company wholly owned by the
Scottish
Ministers, to—
[page
52:
line
25
]
(i)
Great British Railways,
(ii)
a company wholly owned by Great British Railways,
(iii)
a proposed GBR,
(iv)
a company wholly owned by a proposed GBR, or
(v)
a company jointly owned by two or more of the Scottish
[page
52:
line
30
]
Ministers,
the Secretary of State, Great British Railways and a
proposed
GBR;
(b)
from Great British Railways, a company wholly owned by Great British
Railways
or a company jointly owned by the Scottish Ministers and
Great
British Railways to—
[page
52:
line
35
]
(i)
the Scottish Ministers,
(ii)
a company wholly owned by the Scottish Ministers,
(iii)
a proposed GBR,
(iv)
a company wholly owned by a proposed GBR, or
(v)
a company jointly owned by the Scottish Ministers and a
[page
52:
line
40
]
proposed
GBR;
(c)
from a former GBR, a company wholly owned by a former GBR or a
company
jointly owned by the Scottish Ministers and a former GBR,
to—
[
p
age
53
]
(i)
the Scottish Ministers,
(ii)
a company wholly owned by the Scottish Ministers,
(iii)
Great British Railways,
(iv)
a company wholly owned by Great British Railways, or
[page
53:
line
5
]
(v)
a company jointly owned by the Scottish Ministers and Great
British
Railways;
(d)
from a company wholly owned by the Scottish Ministers to another
company
wholly owned by them;
(e)
from the Scottish Ministers to a company wholly owned by them, or
[page
53:
line
10
]
vice
versa.
(2)
The Scottish Ministers must obtain the Secretary of State’s consent before
making
a scheme under
subsection (1)
(a)
,
(b)
or
(c)
.
88
Transfer schemes made by Welsh Ministers
(1)
The Welsh Ministers may, for any purpose connected with railways or the
[page
53:
line
15
]
provision
of railway services, make one or more schemes for the transfer of
property,
rights and liabilities—
(a)
from the Welsh Ministers, or a company wholly owned by the Welsh
Ministers,
to—
(i)
Great British Railways,
[page
53:
line
20
]
(ii)
a company wholly owned by Great British Railways,
(iii)
a proposed GBR,
(iv)
a company wholly owned by a proposed GBR, or
(v)
a company jointly owned by two or more of the Welsh
Ministers,
the Secretary of State, Great British Railways and a
[page
53:
line
25
]
proposed
GBR;
(b)
from Great British Railways, a company wholly owned by Great British
Railways
or a company jointly owned by the Welsh Ministers and
Great
British Railways to—
(i)
the Welsh Ministers,
[page
53:
line
30
]
(ii)
a company wholly owned by the Welsh Ministers,
(iii)
a proposed GBR,
(iv)
a company wholly owned by a proposed GBR, or
(v)
a company jointly owned by the Welsh Ministers and a
proposed
GBR;
[page
53:
line
35
]
(c)
from a former GBR, or a company wholly owned by a former GBR,
to—
(i)
the Welsh Ministers,
(ii)
a company wholly owned by the Welsh Ministers,
(iii)
Great British Railways,
[page
53:
line
40
]
(iv)
a company wholly owned by Great British Railways, or
(v)
a company jointly owned by the Welsh Ministers and Great
British
Railways;
[
p
age
54
]
(d)
from a company wholly owned by the Welsh Ministers to another
company
wholly owned by them;
(e)
from the Welsh Ministers to a company wholly owned by the Welsh
Ministers,
or vice versa.
[page
54:
line
5
]
(2)
The Welsh Ministers must obtain the Secretary of State’s consent before
making
a scheme under
subsection (1)
(a)
,
(b)
or
(c)
.
89
Further provision about transfer schemes
(1)
Schedule
3
contains further provision about transfer schemes under sections
86
,
87
and
88
.
[page
54:
line
10
]
(2)
In sections
86
,
87
and
88
and Schedule
3
—
(a)
“a former GBR” means a body corporate formerly designated as Great
British
Railways under
section 1
;
(b)
“a proposed GBR” means a body corporate that the Secretary of State
proposes
to designate as Great British Railways under that section.
[page
54:
line
15
]
90
Transfer of staff to the Passengers’ Council
(1)
The Secretary of State may make one or more schemes under which persons
who
hold employment in the civil service of the State become employees of
the
Passengers’ Council (but this is subject to any provision contained in the
scheme
that allows a person to object to becoming an employee of the
[page
54:
line
20
]
Council).
(2)
A scheme made under this section—
(a)
may make provision for giving full effect to a person’s transfer into
the
employment of the Passengers’ Council as a result of the scheme,
and
[page
54:
line
25
]
(b)
may (in particular) include provision that is the same as, or similar
to,
the provision made by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of
Employment)
Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/246).
Licensing
etc of train drivers
91
Licensing etc of train drivers
[page
54:
line
30
]
(1)
The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about the licensing
or
certification of persons who drive trains used to provide railway services.
(2)
The provision that may be made by regulations under this section includes,
among
other things, provision—
(a)
prohibiting a person from driving a train unless the person is
[page
54:
line
35
]
authorised
to do so by a licence, or a certificate, of a description
specified
in the regulations;
(b)
as to who may issue licences or certificates;
[
p
age
55
]
(c)
as to conditions which a person must meet in order to hold a licence
or
a certificate;
(d)
about the procedure for obtaining a licence or a certificate, including
provision
for the payment of fees;
[page
55:
line
5
]
(e)
about the form or content of licences or certificates;
(f)
for licences or certificates to include conditions, including conditions
as
to the making of payments to persons specified in the regulations;
(g)
about the validity of licences or certificates;
(h)
for the suspension, revocation or withdrawal of a licence or a certificate;
[page
55:
line
10
]
(i)
about appeals against a decision relating to the issuance, suspension,
revocation
or withdrawal of a licence or a certificate;
(j)
about keeping or sharing information in relation to—
(i)
licences or certificates;
(ii)
a person who holds, or has previously held, a licence or
[page
55:
line
15
]
certificate.
(3)
The regulations may include provision about—
(a)
the training, skills, assessment and examination of persons who drive
trains;
(b)
the steps which may be taken by the ORR in cases where it considers
[page
55:
line
20
]
that
a person who drives trains is a serious threat to the safety of the
railway.
(4)
The regulations may confer power to make provision about matters arising
out
of or related to the regulations in a document issued by a person specified,
or
of a description specified, in the regulations.
[page
55:
line
25
]
(5)
Regulations under this section—
(a)
may make provision for the enforcement of a right or duty provided
for
in the regulations, including by creating criminal offences;
(b)
may not, in the case of an offence triable either way, make provision
for
the offence to be punishable, on conviction on indictment, by
[page
55:
line
30
]
imprisonment
for a period exceeding 2 years.
(6)
Before making regulations under this section the Secretary of State must
consult—
(a)
such organisations appearing to the Secretary of State to be
representative
of persons who drive trains as they think fit, and
[page
55:
line
35
]
(b)
any other persons whom the Secretary of State considers appropriate
to
consult.
International
interests in railway rolling stock
92
Cape Town Convention and Luxembourg Protocol
(1)
The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for giving effect
[page
55:
line
40
]
to—
[
p
age
56
]
(a)
the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment signed
at
Cape Town on 16 November 2001 (“the Cape Town Convention”),
so
far as it relates to international interests in railway rolling stock,
and
[page
56:
line
5
]
(b)
the Luxembourg Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on Matters
Specific
to Railway Rolling Stock signed in Luxembourg on 23 February
2007
(“the Luxembourg Protocol”).
(2)
Regulations under this section may, in particular—
(a)
make provision to deal with any matter arising out of or related to
[page
56:
line
10
]
the
Cape Town Convention or the Luxembourg Protocol;
(b)
make provision for enabling the enforcement of a right or duty arising
out
of the Cape Town Convention or the Luxembourg Protocol;
(c)
make provision which refers to an instrument made by the body
established
by virtue of Article 12 of the Luxembourg Protocol, as that
[page
56:
line
15
]
instrument
has effect from time to time;
(d)
make provision for conferring jurisdiction on a court or tribunal;
(e)
make provision for conferring functions on the Secretary of State or
any
other person;
(f)
make provision for imposing duties on persons to cooperate with a
[page
56:
line
20
]
person
exercising a function under the Cape Town Convention, the
Luxembourg
Protocol or the regulations;
(g)
make provision about the enforcement of judgments.
(3)
Regulations under this section may amend or repeal provision contained in
primary
legislation.
[page
56:
line
25
]
(4)
In
this section
—
“
international
interest”
has the meaning given in Article 1(o) of the Cape
Town
Convention;
“
primary
legislation”
means—
(a)
an Act,
[page
56:
line
30
]
(b)
an Act of the Scottish Parliament,
(c)
an Act or Measure of Senedd Cymru, or
(d)
Northern Ireland legislation;
“
railway
rolling stock”
has the meaning given in Article 1(2)(e) of the
Luxembourg
Protocol.
[page
56:
line
35
]
Part
4
General
93
Minor and consequential amendments
Schedule
4
contains minor and consequential amendments (including the
repeal
of some provisions which are spent).
[
p
age
57
]
94
Power of Secretary of State to make consequential provision
(1)
The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision that is consequential
on
this Act.
(2)
Regulations under this section may amend or repeal provision contained in
[page
57:
line
5
]
an
Act passed—
(a)
before this Act, or
(b)
later in the same session of Parliament as this Act,
(as
well as provision made under such an Act).
95
Regulations
[page
57:
line
10
]
(1)
A power to make regulations under any provision of this Act includes power
to
make—
(a)
consequential, supplementary, incidental, transitional or saving
provision;
(b)
different provision for different purposes or areas;
[page
57:
line
15
]
(c)
the full provision to which the power extends or any less provision
(whether
by way of exception or otherwise).
(2)
Regulations made by the Secretary of State under this Act are to be made by
statutory
instrument.
(3)
A statutory instrument containing any of the following (whether alone or
[page
57:
line
20
]
with
other provision) may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has
been
laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament—
(a)
regulations under
section 3
(3)
;
(b)
regulations under
section 72
;
(c)
regulations under
section 73
(2)
[page
57:
line
25
]
(d)
regulations under
section 91
;
(e)
regulations under
section 92
;
(f)
regulations under
section 94
that amend or repeal provision contained
in
an Act;
(g)
regulations under
paragraph 6
of
Schedule 2
.
[page
57:
line
30
]
(4)
Any other statutory instrument containing regulations made by the Secretary
of
State under this Act, except a statutory instrument containing regulations
under
section 98
, is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either
House
of Parliament.
(5)
If a draft of an instrument containing regulations under
section 72
or
94
[page
57:
line
35
]
would,
apart from this subsection, be treated as a hybrid instrument for the
purposes
of the standing orders of either House of Parliament, it is to proceed
in
that House as if it were not a hybrid instrument.
96
General interpretation
(1)
In this Act—
“
[
p
age
58
]
the
2016 Regulations”
means the Railways (Access, Management and
Licensing
of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/645));
“
GBR
company”
means—
(a)
a subsidiary of Great British Railways;
[page
58:
line
5
]
(b)
a company jointly owned by Great British Railways and the
Scottish
Ministers, or
(c)
a company jointly owned by Great British Railways and the
Welsh
Ministers;
“
mayoral
combined authority”
, “mayoral combined county authority”
[page
58:
line
10
]
and
“mayoral strategic authority” have the same meanings as in the
English
Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026;
“
the
ORR”
means the Office of Rail and Road;
“
Passenger
Transport Executive for an integrated transport area”
means
a
body which is the Passenger Transport Executive for an integrated
[page
58:
line
15
]
transport
area for the purposes of Part 2 of the Transport Act 1968;
“
railway
infrastructure”
has the meaning given by the 2016 Regulations
(see
regulation 3);
“
safety
functions”
, in relation to the ORR, means functions assigned or
transferred
to the ORR—
[page
58:
line
20
]
(a)
under Part 1 of the Railways Act 1993,
(b)
under or by virtue of the Railways Act 2005, or
(c)
under or by virtue of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
1974,
so
far as they are being exercised for railway safety purposes (within
[page
58:
line
25
]
the
meaning of Schedule 3 to the Railways Act 2005) or for purposes
connected
with those purposes;
“
statutory
functions”
, in relation to Great British Railways, has the
meaning
given by section
3
(4)
.
(2)
An expression which is given a meaning by any provision of the Railways
[page
58:
line
30
]
Act
1993 for the purpose either of that Act or of Part 1 of it has the same
meaning
in this Act as in that Act or Part.
(3)
Subsections (4) and (5) of section 58 of the Railways Act 2005 (meaning of
“wholly
owned” and “jointly owned”) apply for the purposes of this Act as
they
apply for the purposes of that Act, except in relation to the expression
[page
58:
line
35
]
“wholly
owned by the Crown” (as to which see section 151(2) of the Railways
Act
1993).
97
Extent
(1)
This Act extends to England and Wales and Scotland only, subject to
subsections
(2)
to
(5)
.
[page
58:
line
40
]
(2)
Section
92
and this Part extend also to Northern Ireland.
(3)
His Majesty may by Order in Council provide for any of the provisions of
section
92
and this Part, or any regulations under that section (whether made
[
p
age
59
]
before
or after the making of the Order in Council), to extend with or without
modifications
to the Isle of Man.
(4)
The power under
subsection (3)
, so far as relating to regulations, includes
power
to provide for the regulations as amended from time to time to extend
[page
59:
line
5
]
as
mentioned in that subsection.
(5)
An amendment, repeal or revocation made by this Act has the same extent
as
the provision amended, repealed or revoked.
98
Commencement
(1)
Sections
91
,
92
,
94
to
97
, this section and
section 99
come into force on the
[page
59:
line
10
]
day
on which this Act is passed.
(2)
The remaining provisions of this Act come into force—
(a)
for the purposes of making regulations, on the day on which this Act
is
passed;
(b)
for remaining purposes, on such day or days as the Secretary of State
[page
59:
line
15
]
may
by regulations appoint.
(3)
The Secretary of State may by regulations make transitional or saving provision
(in
addition to any such provision made by this Act) in connection with the
coming
into force of any provision of this Act.
99
Short title
[page
59:
line
20
]
This
Act may be cited as the Railways Act 2026.
[
p
age
60
]
Schedules
Schedule
1
Section
11
Licensing
of Great British Railways
1
The
Railways Act 1993
is amended in accordance with
paragraphs 2
to
8
.
[page
60:
line
5
]
2
In
section 7
(exemption from licensing requirements), after
subsection (12)
insert—
“
(12A)
A licence exemption may not be granted to Great British Railways.
”
3
For
section 8
substitute—
“
7B
Grant of licence to Great British Railways
[page
60:
line
10
]
(1)
The Secretary of State may, after consultation with the Office of Rail
and
Road and the Passengers’ Council, grant Great British Railways
a
licence under this section authorising Great British Railways to
be
the operator of the railway assets specified or described in the
licence.
[page
60:
line
15
]
(2)
A licence under this section must be in writing.
(3)
A licence under this section continues in force for such period as
may
be specified in or determined by or under it unless revoked
or
surrendered before the end of that period.
(4)
A licence under this section may not be surrendered without the
[page
60:
line
20
]
consent
of the Secretary of State.
(5)
The consultation requirements in subsection
(1)
may be satisfied by
consultation
before Schedule
1
to the Railways Act 2026 comes into
force
(as well as by consultation after that time).
8
Grant of licence to persons other than Great British Railways
[page
60:
line
25
]
(1)
The Secretary of State may, after consultation with the Office of Rail
and
Road and any consultation required by
subsection (3)
, grant a
person
other than Great British Railways a licence under this section
authorising
the person to be the operator of the railway assets
specified
or described in the licence.
[page
60:
line
30
]
(2)
The Office of Rail and Road may, after any consultation required
by
subsection (3)
, grant a person other than Great British Railways
a
licence under this section authorising the person to be the operator
of
the railway assets specified or described in the licence.
(3)
This subsection requires consultation with the Passengers’ Council
[page
60:
line
35
]
if
the licence is a passenger licence or station licence.
[
p
age
61
]
(4)
The Secretary of State or the Office of Rail and Road may grant a
person
a licence under this section only on an application by the
person
made in accordance with regulations under section
8B
.
(5)
The Office of Rail and Road may not grant a licence under this
[page
61:
line
5
]
section
unless—
(a)
the Secretary of State consents to the grant, or
(b)
the licence is granted in accordance with a general authority
given
to the Office of Rail and Road by the Secretary of State.
(6)
The terms of a general authority may include a requirement for the
[page
61:
line
10
]
Office
of Rail and Road to consult the Secretary of State, or obtain
their
approval, before granting a licence under this section; but a
failure
to comply with such a requirement in relation to the grant
of
a licence does not affect the validity of the licence.
(7)
A licence under this section must be in writing.
[page
61:
line
15
]
(8)
A licence under this section continues in force for such period as
may
be specified in or determined by or under it unless revoked
or
surrendered before the end of that period.
(9)
A licence under this section may not be surrendered without the
consent
of the Office of Rail and Road.
[page
61:
line
20
]
8A
Licencesnotification requirements
(1)
Before the Secretary of State or the Office of Rail and Road grants
a
licence to a person under section
7B
or
8
, they must publish a
notice—
(a)
stating that they propose granting a licence under that section
[page
61:
line
25
]
to
the person,
(b)
stating the reasons for proposing to do so, and
(c)
specifying a period of not less than 28 days beginning with
the
date of publication of the notice during which
representations
or objections with respect to the proposed
[page
61:
line
30
]
licence
may be made.
(2)
The notice must be published in such manner as they consider
appropriate
for bringing it to the attention of persons likely to be
affected
by the grant of the licence.
(3)
They must consider any representations or objections which are
[page
61:
line
35
]
made
before the end of the period specified in the notice and not
withdrawn.
(4)
As soon as possible after granting a licence they must send a copy—
(a)
in the case of a licence granted by the Secretary of State, to
the
Office of Rail and Road;
[page
61:
line
40
]
(b)
in the case of a licence granted by the Office of Rail and
Road,
to the Secretary of State;
[
p
age
62
]
(c)
in the case of a licence granted under
section 7B
or a
passenger
or station licence granted under
section 8
, to the
Passengers’
Council.
(5)
A requirement in subsection
(1)
to
(3)
may be satisfied, in relation
[page
62:
line
5
]
to
the first licence granted under section
7B
, by equivalent steps
taken
before Schedule
1
to the Railways Act 2026 comes into force
(as
well as by things done after that time).
8B
Licencesapplications
(1)
The Secretary of State may by regulations—
[page
62:
line
10
]
(a)
prescribe the manner in which an application for a licence
under
section
8
must be made;
(b)
require the application to be accompanied by such fee as the
Secretary
of State may prescribe;
(c)
require the application to be published in the prescribed
[page
62:
line
15
]
manner
and before the end of such period as may be notified
to
the applicant by the Secretary of State.
(2)
The regulations may provide for different application fees to be
payable
in respect of licences of different descriptions.
(3)
Before making regulations under this section the Secretary of State
[page
62:
line
20
]
must
consult the Office of Rail and Road.
(4)
Any sums received by the Secretary of State or the Office of Rail
and
Road in connection with an application for a licence must be
paid
into the Consolidated Fund.
”
4
In
section 9
(1)
(conditions of licences: general), after paragraph (b) insert—
[page
62:
line
25
]
(a)
after
paragraph (b)
insert—
“
(c)
in the case of a licence under section
7B
, provision
that
an authorisation by the licence has effect from
a
date specified in or determined under or in
accordance
with the licence.
”
;
[page
62:
line
30
]
(b)
at the end of
paragraph (a)
omit “and”.
5
After
section 9
insert—
“
9A
Conditions of Great British Railways’ licence
(1)
A licence under section
7B
may include a condition requiring Great
British
Railways to comply with provisions—
[page
62:
line
35
]
(a)
in relation to the exercise by Great British Railways of its
functions
under section
3
(1)(d) and (e) of the Railways Act
2026,
and
(b)
which are contained in a document, as updated from time
to
time, which is made by the Office of Rail and Road and
[
p
age
63
]
approved
by the Secretary of State (an “approved
document”).
(2)
An approved document may contain, in particular, provision about
Great
British Railways’ activities, and the manner in which it carries
[page
63:
line
5
]
on
those activities, relating to the sale of tickets by persons other
than
Great British Railways for travel on railway passenger services.
(3)
Where a licence under section
7B
includes a condition requiring
Great
British Railways to comply with provisions set out in an
approved
document, the Office of Rail and Road must keep the
[page
63:
line
10
]
document
under review and agree any updates to it with the
Secretary
of State.
(4)
The Office of Rail and Road must publish as soon as reasonably
practicable—
(a)
an approved document, and
[page
63:
line
15
]
(b)
where an approved document is updated under subsection
(3)
, the approved document as updated.
”
6
Before
section 12
insert—
“
11A
Modification of Great British Railways’ licence by the Secretary
of
State
[page
63:
line
20
]
(1)
The Secretary of State may, after consultation with the Office of Rail
and
Road and any consultation required by
subsection (2)
, modify
the
conditions of a licence held by Great British Railways.
(2)
This subsection requires consultation with the Passengers’ Council
if
the proposed modifications relate to functions of the Council.
[page
63:
line
25
]
(3)
Before making modifications under this section, the Secretary of
State
must give notice—
(a)
stating that the Secretary of State proposes to make the
modifications
and setting out their effect,
(b)
stating the reasons for proposing to do so, and
[page
63:
line
30
]
(c)
specifying a period of not less than 28 days from the date
of
publication of the notice during which representations or
objections
with respect to the proposed modifications may
be
made.
(4)
A notice under subsection
(3)
is given—
[page
63:
line
35
]
(a)
by publishing the notice in such manner as the Secretary of
State
considers appropriate for the purpose of bringing the
notice
to the attention of persons likely to be affected by the
making
of the modifications, and
(b)
by serving a copy of the notice on Great British Railways.
[page
63:
line
40
]
(5)
The Secretary of State must consider any representations or
objections
which are made before the end of the period specified
in
the notice and not withdrawn.
[
p
age
64
]
(6)
As soon as practicable after modifying the conditions of a licence
under
this section, the Secretary of State must send a copy of the
modifications
to the Office of Rail and Road and the Passengers’
Council.
”
[page
64:
line
5
]
7
In
section 12
(modification by agreement)—
(a)
before
subsection (2)
insert—
“
(1D)
If the licence is a passenger licence or station licence and the
proposed
modifications relate to functions of the Passengers’
Council,
the Office of Rail and Road must consult the Council
[page
64:
line
10
]
before
making the modifications.
”
, and
(b)
after
subsection (3)
insert—
“
(3A)
As soon as practicable after modifying the conditions of a
licence
under this section, the Office of Rail and Road must
send
a copy of the modifications to the Passengers’ Council.
”
[page
64:
line
15
]
8
In
section 13
(1)
(a)
(modification references to the CMA), after “licence”
insert
“under section
8
”.
9
A licence under
section 8
of the
Railways Act 1993
which is in force
immediately
before paragraph
3
of this Schedule comes into force continues
in
force for such period as may be specified in or determined by or under
[page
64:
line
20
]
the
licence unless revoked or surrendered before the end of that period.
Schedule
2
Section
12
Funding
Great British Railways
Part
1
Funding
by the Secretary of State
[page
64:
line
25
]
ORR
to set timetable governing funding process
1
—
(1)
Before the start of a funding period, the ORR must give a notice to the
persons
within
sub-paragraph (3)
specifying—
(a)
the day on or before which the Secretary of State is required to
provide
to the Welsh Ministers, the ORR and Great British Railways
[page
64:
line
30
]
a
statement under
paragraph 2
in relation to the funding period;
(b)
the day on or before which the Secretary of State is required to
provide
to the ORR and Great British Railways a statement under
paragraph
3
in relation to the funding period,
(c)
the day on or before which Great British Railways is required to
[page
64:
line
35
]
provide
to the ORR an approved business plan under
paragraph 4
,
and
(d)
the day on or before which the Secretary of State is required to
notify
the ORR and Great British Railways of the amount of financial
[
p
age
65
]
assistance
to be provided to Great British Railways under
paragraph
6
in relation to the funding period.
(2)
The notice must also set out the day on which the funding period starts.
(3)
The following persons are within
this sub-paragraph
—
[page
65:
line
5
]
(a)
the Secretary of State,
(b)
the Scottish Ministers,
(c)
the Welsh Ministers,
(d)
Great British Railways, and
(e)
the Passengers’ Council.
[page
65:
line
10
]
(4)
The ORR may at any time vary a notice under
this paragraph
to specify a
later
day on or before which a requirement referred to in
sub-paragraph
(1)
is to be met (including where a day specified in relation to the
requirement
has passed without the requirement being met).
(5)
The ORR must notify a person to whom a notice under
this paragraph
is
[page
65:
line
15
]
given
of any such variation, as soon as reasonably practicable.
(6)
A day specified for the purpose of paragraph
(b)
to
(d)
must fall after the
day
specified for the purpose of the preceding paragraph of
that
sub-paragraph
.
(7)
The ORR must consult the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers, the
[page
65:
line
20
]
Welsh
Ministers and Great British Railways as to the days to be specified
in
the notice.
(8)
Each day specified in a notice under
this paragraph
must fall before the
start
of the funding period to which the notice relates.
(9)
In
this Schedule
“funding period” means—
[page
65:
line
25
]
(a)
the period of five years beginning with such day as the Secretary
of
State may determine;
(b)
each subsequent period of five years.
Secretary
of State’s statement of objectives
2
—
(1)
The Secretary of State must provide the Welsh Ministers, the ORR and
[page
65:
line
30
]
Great
British Railways with a statement, in relation to a funding period,
which—
(a)
sets out the Secretary of State’s objectives for the funding period in
relation
to railways and railway services, and
(b)
specifies which of those objectives Great British Railways is capable
[page
65:
line
35
]
of
contributing to meeting.
(2)
The objectives set out under
sub-paragraph (1)
(a)
may include objectives
as
to standards to be achieved when carrying on activities in relation to
railways
and railway services.
(3)
The objectives set out under
sub-paragraph (1)
(a)
may include, in particular,
[page
65:
line
40
]
objectives
relating to—
(a)
the carriage of passengers or goods;
[
p
age
66
]
(b)
the railway network or railway assets (including objectives relating
to
the provision of the railway network or railway assets after the
end
of the funding period);
(c)
fares;
[page
66:
line
5
]
(d)
the accessibility of railway services to people with disabilities;
(e)
the protection of persons from dangers arising from the operation
of
railways.
(4)
The statement must be provided on or before the day specified by the ORR
under
paragraph 1
(1)
(a)
in relation to the statement.
[page
66:
line
10
]
(5)
The Secretary of State must publish the statement as soon as reasonably
practicable
after providing it.
(6)
The Secretary of State must consult the following persons when preparing
the
statement—
(a)
the Scottish Ministers,
[page
66:
line
15
]
(b)
the Welsh Ministers,
(c)
the ORR,
(d)
Great British Railways,
(e)
the Passengers’ Council, and
(f)
each mayoral strategic authority.
[page
66:
line
20
]
Statement
of funds available
3
—
(1)
The Secretary of State must provide the ORR and Great British Railways
with
a statement, in relation to a funding period, indicating the amount of
financial
assistance that the Secretary of State reasonably considers may be
made
available to Great British Railways by the Secretary of State (whether
[page
66:
line
25
]
under
this Act or under any other power) for the purpose of funding the
activities
of Great British Railways during the funding period.
(2)
The statement must be provided on or before the day specified by the ORR
under
paragraph 1
(1)
(b)
in relation to the statement.
(3)
The Secretary of State must publish the statement as soon as reasonably
[page
66:
line
30
]
practicable
after providing it.
(4)
When preparing a statement under this section, the Secretary of State must
have
regard to the likely costs to Great British Railways of meeting, or
contributing
to meeting, the objectives specified by the Secretary of State
under
paragraph 2
(1)
(b)
in relation to the funding period.
[page
66:
line
35
]
(5)
The Secretary of State must consult the ORR when preparing the statement.
Business
plan and approval by the Secretary of State
4
—
(1)
Great British Railways must provide the ORR with an approved business
plan,
in relation to a funding period, on or before the date specified by the
ORR
under
paragraph 1
(1)
(c)
in relation to the period.
[
p
age
67
]
(2)
In
this Schedule
“approved business plan” means a business plan which
is
approved by the Secretary of State.
(3)
The plan must set out—
(a)
the activities Great British Railways proposes are carried on during
[page
67:
line
5
]
the
funding period (whether by Great British Railways or another
GBR
company),
(b)
Great British Railways’ estimate of the costs of carrying on those
activities,
and
(c)
how Great British Railways proposes to meet those costs.
[page
67:
line
10
]
(4)
The plan must explain, in particular—
(a)
how those activities will contribute to meeting the objectives
specified
by the Secretary of State in a statement under
paragraph
2
(1)
(b)
in relation to the funding period;
(b)
whether, and if so how, those activities will contribute to meeting
[page
67:
line
15
]
any
other objectives set out in the statement.
(5)
The Secretary of State may not approve a business plan unless they have
obtained
advice from the ORR as to—
(a)
how the activities Great British Railways proposes to carry on during
the
funding period will contribute to meeting the objectives
[page
67:
line
20
]
mentioned
in
sub-paragraph (4)
, and
(b)
whether the estimated costs of carrying on those activities represent
good
value for money.
(6)
The ORR must publish a summary of the advice as soon as reasonably
practicable
after the approved business plan is published under subsection
[page
67:
line
25
]
(7)
.
(7)
Great British Railways—
(a)
must publish so much of the approved business plan as it considers
appropriate
to publish, and
(b)
must do so as soon as reasonably practicable.
[page
67:
line
30
]
(8)
When preparing a business plan for the purposes of
this paragraph
, Great
British
Railways—
(a)
must have regard to the statement provided by the Secretary of
State
under
paragraph 3
in relation to the funding period, and
(b)
must consult the Secretary of State, the ORR and the Passengers’
[page
67:
line
35
]
Council.
Keeping
the approved business plan up to date
5
—
(1)
Great British Railways must keep an approved business plan up to date.
(2)
Where Great British Railways proposes updating information in an approved
business
plan which is required to be included in the plan under
paragraph
[page
67:
line
40
]
4
(3)
, the information is to not to be taken as updated unless—
(a)
Great British Railways consults the ORR and the Passengers’ Council
about
the proposed update, and
[
p
age
68
]
(b)
the Secretary of State approves the proposed update.
(3)
Great British Railways—
(a)
must publish so much of the approved business plan as updated
as
it considers appropriate to publish, and
[page
68:
line
5
]
(b)
must do so as soon as reasonably practicable.
Secretary
of State’s power to provide financial assistance
6
—
(1)
The Secretary of State may at any time provide financial assistance to Great
British
Railways for the purpose of enabling it to carry on, or assisting it
with
carrying on, activities set out in an approved business plan.
[page
68:
line
10
]
(2)
The financial assistance may be provided only for the purpose of activities—
(a)
carried on in exercise of Great British Railways’ function under
section
3
(1)
(a)
, or
(b)
specified by the Secretary of State in regulations.
(3)
Regulations under
this paragraph
may specify activities generally, activities
[page
68:
line
15
]
of
a particular description or particular activities.
(4)
Where the activities are to be carried on by a GBR company, the Secretary
of
State may provide the assistance directly to them.
(5)
The financial assistance may be provided in any form and in particular
may
be provided—
[page
68:
line
20
]
(a)
by way of grant, loan, guarantee or indemnity,
(b)
by the acquisition of any undertaking or of any assets,
(c)
pursuant to a contract, or
(d)
by incurring expenditure for the benefit of Great British Railways
or
a GBR company.
[page
68:
line
25
]
(6)
The financial assistance may be provided on such terms, and subject to
such
conditions, as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(7)
The power to provide financial assistance under
this paragraph
does not
limit
the circumstances in which the Secretary of State may provide financial
assistance
to Great British Railways, or a GBR company, under any other
[page
68:
line
30
]
power.
Notification
of financial assistance to be provided
7
—
(1)
The Secretary of State must notify the ORR and Great British Railways, on
or
before the day specified by the ORR under
paragraph 1
(1)
(d)
in relation
to
a funding period, of—
[page
68:
line
35
]
(a)
the financial assistance to be provided under
paragraph 6
for the
purpose
of enabling Great British Railways to carry on, or assisting
it
with carrying on, activities set out in an approved business plan;
(b)
the activities for which purpose the assistance is to be provided.
[
p
age
69
]
(2)
The Secretary of State must publish details of the financial assistance, and
the
activities, notified under
sub-paragraph (1)
as soon as reasonably
practicable.
(3)
If the Secretary of State proposes to vary the financial assistance to be
[page
69:
line
5
]
provided
under
paragraph 6
, the Secretary of State must notify Great British
Railways
of the proposed variation.
(4)
The Secretary of State must notify the ORR if—
(a)
the proposed variation is to financial assistance to be provided for
the
purpose of carrying on activities in exercise of Great British
[page
69:
line
10
]
Railways’
function under
section 3
(1)
(a)
,
(b)
the proposed variation is a proposal to postpone or withdraw the
provision
of financial assistance or to reduce the amount of
assistance
to be provided, and
(c)
the Secretary of State considers that the proposed postponement,
[page
69:
line
15
]
withdrawal
or reduction is likely to have a material impact on the
ability
of Great British Railways to carry on the activities specified
in
a notification under
sub-paragraph (1)
in relation to the assistance.
(5)
If the Secretary of State decides to vary the financial assistance to be
provided
under
paragraph 6
, the Secretary of State must—
[page
69:
line
20
]
(a)
notify Great British Railways of the variation, and
(b)
publish details of the variation if the Secretary of State considers
that
the variation is likely to have a material impact on the ability
of
Great British Railways to carry on the activities specified in a
notification
under
sub-paragraph (1)
in relation to the assistance.
[page
69:
line
25
]
Part
2
Funding
by the Scottish Ministers
ORR
to set timetable: Scotland
8
—
(1)
Before the start of a funding period, the ORR must give a notice to the
persons
within
sub-paragraph (3)
specifying—
[page
69:
line
30
]
(a)
the day on or before which the Scottish Ministers are required to
provide
to the ORR and Great British Railways a statement under
paragraph
9
in relation to the funding period,
(b)
the day on or before which the Scottish Ministers are required to
provide
to the ORR and Great British Railways a statement under
[page
69:
line
35
]
paragraph
10
in relation to the funding period,
(c)
the day on or before which Great British Railways is required to
provide
to the ORR an approved Scottish business plan under
paragraph
11
, and
(d)
the day on or before which the Scottish Ministers are required to
[page
69:
line
40
]
notify
the ORR and Great British Railways of the amount of financial
assistance
to be provided to Great British Railways under
paragraph
13
in relation to the funding period.
[
p
age
70
]
(2)
The notice must also set out the day on which the funding period starts.
(3)
The following persons are within
this sub-paragraph
—
(a)
the Secretary of State,
(b)
the Scottish Ministers,
[page
70:
line
5
]
(c)
Great British Railways, and
(d)
the Passengers’ Council.
(4)
The ORR may at any time vary a notice under
this paragraph
to specify a
later
day on or before which a requirement referred to in
sub-paragraph
(1)
is to be met (including where a day specified in relation to the
[page
70:
line
10
]
requirement
has passed without the requirement being met).
(5)
The ORR must notify a person to whom a notice under this paragraph is
given
of any such variation, as soon as reasonably practicable.
(6)
A day specified for the purpose of
paragraph (b)
to
(d)
must fall after the
day
or days specified for the purpose of the preceding paragraph of
that
[page
70:
line
15
]
sub-paragraph
.
(7)
The ORR must consult the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers and
Great
British Railways as to the days to be specified in the notice.
(8)
Each day specified in a notice under
this paragraph
must fall before the
start
of the funding period to which the notice relates.
[page
70:
line
20
]
Scottish
Ministers’ statement of objectives
9
—
(1)
The Scottish Ministers must provide the ORR and Great British Railways
with
a statement, in relation to a funding period, which—
(a)
sets out the Scottish Ministers’ objectives for the funding period in
relation
to Scottish railway activities, and
[page
70:
line
25
]
(b)
specifies which of those objectives Great British Railways is capable
of
contributing to meeting.
(2)
The objectives set out under
sub-paragraph (1)
(a)
may include objectives
as
to standards to be achieved when carrying on Scottish railway activities.
(3)
The objectives set out under
sub-paragraph (1)
(a)
may include, in particular,
[page
70:
line
30
]
objectives
relating to—
(a)
the carriage of passengers or goods;
(b)
the railway network in Scotland or railway assets situated in
Scotland
(including objectives relating to the provision of the railway
network
or railway assets after the end of the funding period);
[page
70:
line
35
]
(c)
fares;
(d)
the accessibility of railway services to people with disabilities;
(e)
the protection of persons from dangers arising from the operation
of
railways.
(4)
The statement must be provided on or before the day specified by the ORR
[page
70:
line
40
]
under
paragraph 8
(1)
(a)
in relation to the statement.
[
p
age
71
]
(5)
The Scottish Ministers must publish the statement as soon as reasonably
practicable
after providing it.
(6)
The Scottish Ministers must consult the following persons when preparing
the
statement—
[page
71:
line
5
]
(a)
the Secretary of State,
(b)
the ORR,
(c)
Great British Railways, and
(d)
the Passengers’ Council.
Statement
of funds available: Scotland
[page
71:
line
10
]
10
—
(1)
The Scottish Ministers must provide the ORR and Great British Railways
with
a statement, in relation to a funding period, indicating the amount of
financial
assistance that the Scottish Ministers reasonably consider may be
made
available to Great British Railways by the Scottish Ministers (whether
under
this Act or any other power to provide financial assistance) for the
[page
71:
line
15
]
purpose
of funding the Scottish railway activities of Great British Railways
during
the funding period.
(2)
The statement must be provided on or before the day specified by the ORR
under
paragraph 8
(1)
(b)
in relation to the statement.
(3)
The Scottish Ministers must publish the statement as soon as reasonably
[page
71:
line
20
]
practicable
after providing it.
(4)
When preparing a statement under this section, the Scottish Ministers must
have
regard to the likely costs to Great British Railways of meeting, or
contributing
to meeting, the objectives specified by the Scottish Ministers
in
a statement under
paragraph 9
(1)
(b)
in relation to the funding period.
[page
71:
line
25
]
(5)
The Scottish Ministers must consult the ORR when preparing the statement.
Scottish
business plan and approval by the Scottish Ministers
11
—
(1)
Great British Railways must provide the ORR with an approved Scottish
business
plan, in relation to a funding period, on or before the date specified
by
the ORR under
paragraph 8
(1)
(c)
in relation to the period.
[page
71:
line
30
]
(2)
In
this Schedule
“approved Scottish business plan” means a business plan
which
is approved by the Scottish Ministers.
(3)
The plan must set out—
(a)
the Scottish railway activities Great British Railways proposes are
carried
on during the funding period (whether by Great British
[page
71:
line
35
]
Railways
or another GBR company),
(b)
Great British Railways’ estimate of the costs of carrying on those
activities,
and
(c)
how Great British Railways proposes to meet those costs.
(4)
The plan must explain, in particular—
[
p
age
72
]
(a)
how those activities will contribute to meeting the objectives
specified
by the Scottish Ministers in a statement under
paragraph
9
(1)
(b)
in relation to the funding period;
(b)
whether, and if so how, those activities will contribute to meeting
[page
72:
line
5
]
any
other objectives set out in the statement.
(5)
The Scottish Ministers may not approve a business plan unless they have
obtained
advice from the ORR as to—
(a)
how the activities Great British Railways proposes to carry on during
the
funding period will contribute to meeting the objectives
[page
72:
line
10
]
mentioned
in
sub-paragraph (4)
, and
(b)
whether the estimated costs of carrying on those activities represent
good
value for money.
(6)
The ORR must publish a summary of the advice as soon as reasonably
practicable
after the approved Scottish business plan is published under
[page
72:
line
15
]
subsection
(7)
.
(7)
Great British Railways—
(a)
must publish so much of the approved Scottish business plan as it
considers
appropriate to publish, and
(b)
must do so as soon as reasonably practicable.
[page
72:
line
20
]
(8)
When preparing a business plan for the purposes of
this paragraph
, Great
British
Railways—
(a)
must have regard to the statement provided by the Scottish Ministers
under
paragraph 10
in relation to the funding period, and
(b)
must consult the Scottish Ministers, the ORR and the Passengers’
[page
72:
line
25
]
Council.
Keeping
the approved Scottish business plan up to date
12
—
(1)
Great British Railways must keep an approved Scottish business plan up
to
date.
(2)
Where Great British Railways proposes updating information in an approved
[page
72:
line
30
]
Scottish
business plan which is required to be included in the plan under
paragraph
11
(3)
, the information is to not to be taken as updated unless—
(a)
Great British Railways consults the ORR and the Passengers’ Council
about
the proposed update, and
(b)
the Scottish Ministers approve the proposed update.
[page
72:
line
35
]
(3)
Great British Railways—
(a)
must publish so much of the approved Scottish business plan as
updated
as it considers appropriate to publish, and
(b)
must do so as soon as reasonably practicable.
Scottish
Ministers’ power to provide financial assistance
[page
72:
line
40
]
13
—
(1)
The Scottish Ministers may at any time provide financial assistance to Great
British
Railways for the purpose of enabling it to carry on, or assisting it
[
p
age
73
]
with
carrying on, Scottish railway activities set out in an approved Scottish
business
plan.
(2)
Where the activities are to be carried on by a person within
sub-paragraph
(3)
, the Scottish Ministers may provide the assistance directly to them.
[page
73:
line
5
]
(3)
The following are within
this sub-paragraph
—
(a)
a subsidiary of Great British Railways, or
(b)
a company jointly owned by Great British Railways and the Scottish
Ministers.
(4)
The financial assistance may be provided in any form and in particular
[page
73:
line
10
]
may
be provided—
(a)
by way of grant, loan, guarantee or indemnity,
(b)
by the acquisition of any undertaking or of any assets,
(c)
pursuant to a contract, or
(d)
by incurring expenditure for the benefit of Great British Railways
[page
73:
line
15
]
or
a person within
sub-paragraph (3)
.
(5)
The financial assistance may be provided on such terms, and subject to
such
conditions, as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(6)
The power to provide financial assistance under
this paragraph
does not
limit
the circumstances in which the Scottish Ministers may provide financial
[page
73:
line
20
]
assistance
to Great British Railways, or a person within
sub-paragraph (3)
,
under any other power.
Notification
of financial assistance to be provided
14
—
(1)
The Scottish Ministers must notify the ORR and Great British Railways, on
or
before the day specified by the ORR under
paragraph 8
(1)
(d)
in relation
[page
73:
line
25
]
to
a funding period, of—
(a)
the financial assistance to be provided under
paragraph 13
for the
purpose
of enabling Great British Railways to carry on, or assisting
it
with carrying on, Scottish railway activities set out in an approved
Scottish
business plan;
[page
73:
line
30
]
(b)
the activities for which purpose the assistance is to be provided.
(2)
The Scottish Ministers must publish details of the financial assistance, and
the
activities, notified under
sub-paragraph (1)
as soon as reasonably
practicable.
(3)
If the Scottish Ministers propose to vary the financial assistance to be
[page
73:
line
35
]
provided
under
paragraph 13
, they must notify Great British Railways of
the
proposed variation.
(4)
The Scottish Ministers must notify the ORR if—
(a)
the proposed variation is a proposal to postpone or withdraw the
provision
of financial assistance or reduce the amount of assistance
[page
73:
line
40
]
to
be provided, and
(b)
the Scottish Ministers consider that the proposed postponement,
withdrawal
or reduction is likely to have a material impact on the
[
p
age
74
]
ability
of Great British Railways to carry on the activities specified
in
a notification under
sub-paragraph (1)
in relation to the assistance.
(5)
If the Scottish Ministers decide to vary the financial assistance to be
provided
under
paragraph 13
, they must—
[page
74:
line
5
]
(a)
notify Great British Railways of the variation, and
(b)
publish details of the variation if they consider that the variation is
likely
to have a material impact on the ability of Great British
Railways
to carry on the activities specified in a notification under
sub-paragraph
(1)
in relation to the assistance.
[page
74:
line
10
]
Part
3
Subsidy
Control
Subsidy
control
15
Financial assistance given to Great British Railways or a GBR company
(whether
under this Act or any other power) is not a subsidy for the
[page
74:
line
15
]
purposes
of the
Subsidy Control Act 2022
if it is given for the primary
purpose
of enabling Great British Railways to exercise a function under
section
3
(1)
(a)
.
Part
4
Interpretation
[page
74:
line
20
]
Interpretation
16
In
this Schedule
—
“
approved
business plan”
has the meaning given by paragraph
4
(2)
;
“
approved
Scottish business plan”
has the meaning given by paragraph
11
(2)
;
“
[page
74:
line
25
]
funding
period”
has the meaning given by
paragraph 1
(9)
;
“
railway
activities”
means activities involving any of the following—
(a)
providing railway services;
(b)
making available railway facilities;
(c)
making use of such facilities;
[page
74:
line
30
]
(d)
using railway assets;
(e)
allowing others to use such assets.
“
Scottish
railway activities”
means railway activities which relate to—
(a)
passenger railway services designated by the Scottish
Ministers
under section
26
,
[page
74:
line
35
]
(b)
Scotland-only services not so designated,
(c)
railway facilities situated in Scotland, or
(d)
railway assets so situated.
[
p
age
75
]
Schedule
3
Clause 89
Transfer
schemes
Application
and commencement of scheme
1
—
(1)
The property, rights and liabilities to be transferred may be specified or
[page
75:
line
5
]
described
by a scheme.
(2)
A scheme comes into force on the date it appoints.
Property,
rights and liabilities that may be transferred
2
—
(1)
The property, rights and liabilities that may be the subject of a transfer
scheme
include in particular—
[page
75:
line
10
]
(a)
property, rights and liabilities that would not otherwise be capable
of
being transferred or assigned;
(b)
property acquired in the period after the making of the scheme and
before
it comes into force;
(c)
rights and liabilities arising in that period;
[page
75:
line
15
]
(d)
rights and liabilities arising after the scheme comes into force in
respect
of matters occurring before it comes into force;
(e)
rights and liabilities under a statutory provision;
(f)
rights and liabilities relating to a contract of employment;
(g)
criminal liabilities.
[page
75:
line
20
]
(2)
A scheme may provide that transfers are to take effect irrespective of—
(a)
any requirement to obtain a person’s consent or concurrence,
(b)
any liability in respect of a contravention of another requirement,
or
(c)
any interference with an interest or right,
[page
75:
line
25
]
which
would otherwise apply.
(3)
Sub-paragraph
(4)
applies where a person would otherwise be entitled, in
consequence
of anything done, or likely to be done, in connection with a
scheme—
(a)
to terminate, modify, acquire or claim an interest or right to which
[page
75:
line
30
]
the
transferor is entitled or subject, or
(b)
to treat such an interest or right as modified or terminated.
(4)
That entitlement is enforceable in relation to the interest or right—
(a)
in consequence of what is done or likely to be done, and
(b)
in corresponding circumstances arising after the transfer,
[page
75:
line
35
]
to
the extent only that the scheme provides for it to be so enforceable.
Dividing
and modifying transferor’s property, rights and liabilities
3
—
(1)
A scheme may contain provision—
[
p
age
76
]
(a)
for the creation, in favour of a transferor or transferee, of an interest
or
right in, or in relation to, property to be transferred in accordance
with
the scheme;
(b)
for giving effect to a transfer to a person by the creation, in favour
[page
76:
line
5
]
of
that person, of an interest or right in, or in relation to, property
to
be retained by a transferor;
(c)
for the creation of new rights and liabilities, including rights of
indemnity
and duties to indemnify, as between a transferee and a
transferor.
[page
76:
line
10
]
(2)
A scheme may contain provision for the creation of rights and liabilities
for
the purpose of converting arrangements between different parts of a
transferor’s
undertaking which exist immediately before the coming into
force
of the scheme into a contract between—
(a)
different transferees, or
[page
76:
line
15
]
(b)
a transferee and a transferor.
(3)
A scheme may contain provision—
(a)
for rights and liabilities to be transferred so as to be enforceable by
or
against—
(i)
more than one transferee, or
[page
76:
line
20
]
(ii)
both the transferee and the transferor, and
(b)
for rights and liabilities enforceable against more than one of those
people
to be enforceable in different or modified respects by or
against
each or any of them.
(4)
A scheme may contain provision for interests, rights or liabilities of third
[page
76:
line
25
]
parties
in relation to anything to which the scheme relates to be modified
in
the manner set out in the scheme.
(5)
Paragraph
2
(2)
applies to the creation of interests and rights in accordance
with
a scheme as it applies to the transfer of interests and rights.
Obligation
to effect transfers etc under a scheme
[page
76:
line
30
]
4
—
(1)
A scheme may contain provision for imposing on a transferee or a transferor
an
obligation—
(a)
to enter into such agreements as may be specified or described in
the
scheme with another person on whom a corresponding obligation
is,
could be or has been, imposed by virtue of this paragraph
[page
76:
line
35
]
(whether
in the same or a different scheme), or
(b)
to execute such instruments as may be specified or described in the
scheme
in favour of any such person.
(2)
That other person may enforce an obligation imposed on a transferor or a
transferee
by virtue of
sub-paragraph (1)
in civil proceedings—
[page
76:
line
40
]
(a)
for an injunction,
(b)
for specific performance of a statutory duty under section 45 of the
Court
of Session Act 1988, or
(c)
for any other appropriate remedy or relief.
[
p
age
77
]
Effect
of a scheme
5
—
(1)
Where a scheme provides for the transfer of property, rights or liabilities,
or
for the creation of interests, rights or liabilities—
(a)
the property or interests, rights or liabilities vest, without further
[page
77:
line
5
]
assurance,
in the transferee at that time, and
(b)
the provisions of that scheme in relation to that property or those
interests,
rights or liabilities have effect from the time when the
scheme
comes into force.
(2)
Sub-paragraph
(1)
is subject to provision under a scheme for—
[page
77:
line
10
]
(a)
the transfer of property, rights or liabilities, or
(b)
the creation of interests, rights and liabilities,
to
be effected by or under an agreement or instrument entered into or
executed
in pursuance of an obligation imposed by virtue of
paragraph
4
(1)
.
[page
77:
line
15
]
(3)
A certificate issued by the person who made a scheme that any property,
rights
or liabilities have been transferred under the scheme is conclusive
evidence
of the transfer.
Powers
and duties under statutory provisions
6
—
(1)
A scheme may make provision for some or all of the powers and duties
[page
77:
line
20
]
to
which this paragraph applies—
(a)
to be transferred to a transferee,
(b)
to become powers and duties that are exercisable, or must be
performed,
concurrently by two or more transferees, or
(c)
to become powers and duties that are exercisable, or must be
[page
77:
line
25
]
performed,
concurrently by a transferor and a transferee.
(2)
The powers and duties to which this paragraph applies are the powers and
duties
conferred or imposed upon a transferor by or under a statutory
provision
so far as they relate to—
(a)
property to be transferred in accordance with the scheme,
[page
77:
line
30
]
(b)
carrying out works designed to be used in connection with such
property,
or
(c)
acquiring land for the purpose of carrying out such works.
(3)
This paragraph does not require a restrictive construction to be given to
what
may be transferred by virtue of
paragraph 2
(1)
(e)
.
[page
77:
line
35
]
Supplementary
provisions of schemes
7
—
(1)
A scheme may—
(a)
make such incidental, supplemental, consequential and transitional
provision
in connection with the scheme as the appropriate Minister
thinks
fit;
[page
77:
line
40
]
(b)
make different provision for different purposes.
[
p
age
78
]
(2)
In particular, a scheme may make provision—
(a)
for the transferee to be treated as the same person in law as the
transferor;
(b)
for agreements made, transactions effected or other things done by
[page
78:
line
5
]
or
in relation to the transferor to be treated, so far as may be
necessary
for the purposes of or in connection with the transfer, as
made,
effected or done by or in relation to the transferee;
(c)
for references in an agreement, instrument or other document to
the
transferor, or to an employee or office holder of the transferor,
[page
78:
line
10
]
to
have effect, so far as may be necessary for the purposes of or in
connection
with a transfer, with such modifications as are specified
in
the scheme;
(d)
for proceedings commenced by or against the transferor to be
continued
by or against the transferee.
[page
78:
line
15
]
(3)
Sub-paragraph
(2)
(c)
does not apply to references in a statutory provision.
Modification
of a scheme by agreement
8
—
(1)
Where the transferor and transferee under a scheme that has come into
force
so agree, the scheme is to be treated for all purposes as having come
into
force with such modifications as may be agreed.
[page
78:
line
20
]
(2)
An agreement under this paragraph which relates to rights and liabilities
under
a contract of employment may be entered into only if the employee
is
a party to the agreement.
(3)
An agreement under this paragraph that adversely affects the property or
rights
of a person other than the transferor, the transferee or such an
[page
78:
line
25
]
employee
may be entered into only if that person is a party to the
agreement.
(4)
An agreement under this paragraph may include—
(a)
any provision that could have been contained in the scheme;
(b)
incidental, supplemental, consequential and transitional provision
[page
78:
line
30
]
in
connection with any such provision.
Transfers
of employment
9
A scheme that contains provision for the transfer of rights and liabilities
relating
to a person’s contract of employment may make provision that is
the
same as, or similar to, the provision made by the Transfer of
[page
78:
line
35
]
Undertakings
(Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/246).
Compensation
for third parties
10
—
(1)
A third party is entitled to compensation in respect of the extinguishment
of
that party’s entitlement where—
(a)
the entitlement is to an interest or right which would, apart from
[page
78:
line
40
]
a
provision of a scheme and
paragraph 2
(3)
and
(4)
, have become
[
p
age
79
]
enforceable
in respect of the transfer or creation of any property,
rights
or liabilities in accordance with the scheme,
(b)
the provisions of that scheme or of
paragraph 2
(3)
and
(4)
have the
effect
of preventing that party’s entitlement to that interest or right
[page
79:
line
5
]
from
being enforced in respect of anything for which the scheme
provides,
and
(c)
provision is not made by the scheme for securing that an entitlement
to
that interest or right, or to an equivalent interest or right, is
preserved
or created so as to arise and be enforceable in respect of
[page
79:
line
10
]
the
first occasion when corresponding circumstances next occur
after
the coming into force of the transfers for which the scheme
provides.
(2)
The amount of compensation to which a third party is entitled under this
paragraph
is the amount necessary for securing, to the extent that it is just
[page
79:
line
15
]
to
do so, that the third party does not suffer financial loss from the
extinguishment
of the entitlement.
(3)
A liability to pay compensation under this paragraph falls on the
appropriate
Minister.
(4)
This paragraph has effect in relation to—
[page
79:
line
20
]
(a)
the provisions of an agreement or instrument entered into or
executed
in pursuance of an obligation imposed by a scheme, and
(b)
the provisions of an agreement under
paragraph 8
relating to
property,
rights or liabilities transferred or created in accordance
with
a scheme,
[page
79:
line
25
]
as
it has effect in relation to the scheme but as if, in the case of an
agreement
under
paragraph 8
, only persons who are not parties to the
agreement
were third parties.
Provision
of information
11
—
(1)
The appropriate Minister may direct a body corporate within
sub-paragraph
[page
79:
line
30
]
(2)
to provide such information as the Minister considers necessary for the
purposes
of making a scheme.
(2)
The bodies corporate within this sub-paragraph are—
(a)
Great British Railways;
(b)
a company wholly owned by Great British Railways;
[page
79:
line
35
]
(c)
a proposed GBR;
(d)
a company wholly owned by a proposed GBR;
(e)
a former GBR;
(f)
a company wholly owned by a former GBR;
(g)
a company jointly owned by two or more of the Secretary of State,
[page
79:
line
40
]
the
Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers, Great British Railways,
a
former GBR and a proposed GBR.
(3)
The direction must specify the period within which the information is to
be
provided.
[
p
age
80
]
(4)
The period specified in the direction must be not less than 28 days
beginning
with the day on which the direction is given.
(5)
If the body fails to comply with the direction, the appropriate Minister
may
serve a notice on the body requiring—
[page
80:
line
5
]
(a)
production to the appropriate Minister of any documents which are
specified
or described in the notice and are in the custody or under
the
control of that body, or
(b)
provision to the Secretary of State of such information as may be
specified
or described in the notice.
[page
80:
line
10
]
(6)
Documents or information to be produced or provided in accordance with
such
a notice must be produced or provided at the time and place, and in
the
form and manner, specified in the notice.
(7)
A direction or notice under this paragraph may not require—
(a)
production of a document which a person could not be compelled
[page
80:
line
15
]
to
produce in civil proceedings, or
(b)
provision of information which a person could not be compelled to
give
in evidence in such proceedings.
(8)
If a body fails to comply with a notice under
sub-paragraph (5)
, the court
may,
on the application of the Secretary of State, make such order as the
[page
80:
line
20
]
court
thinks fit for requiring the failure to be made good.
(9)
Any order under
sub-paragraph (8)
may include provision requiring all
the
costs or expenses of, or incidental to, the application to be borne by
one
or more of the following—
(a)
the body in default;
[page
80:
line
25
]
(b)
any officers of that body who are responsible for its default.
(10)
In this paragraph, reference to the production of a document includes
reference
to the production of a legible and intelligible copy of information
recorded
otherwise than in legible form.
Interpretation
[page
80:
line
30
]
12
—
(1)
In this Schedule—
“
appropriate
Minister”
means—
(a)
in relation to a scheme under
section 86
, the Secretary of
State;
(b)
in relation to a scheme under
section 87
, the Scottish
[page
80:
line
35
]
Ministers;
(c)
in relation to a scheme under
section 88
, the Welsh Ministers;
“
scheme
”
means a scheme under section
86
,
87
or
88
;
“
statutory
provision”
means provision made by or under any of the
following,
whenever passed or made—
[page
80:
line
40
]
(a)
an Act;
(b)
an Act of the Scottish Parliament;
[
p
age
81
]
(c)
an Act or Measure of Senedd Cymru (or an instrument made
under
such an Act or Measure);
(d)
assimilated direct legislation;
“
third
party”
, in relation to a scheme, means a person other than the
[page
81:
line
5
]
transferor
and transferee;
“
transferee
”
—
(a)
in relation to a scheme, means a person to whom property,
rights
or liabilities are transferred in accordance with the
scheme,
and
[page
81:
line
10
]
(b)
in relation to particular property, rights or liabilities
transferred
or created in accordance with a scheme, means
the
person—
(i)
to whom that property or those rights or liabilities
are
transferred, or
[page
81:
line
15
]
(ii)
in whose favour, or in relation to whom, they are
created;
“
transferor
”
—
(a)
in relation to a scheme, means the person from whom
property,
rights or liabilities are transferred in accordance
[page
81:
line
20
]
with
the scheme, and
(b)
in relation to particular property, rights or liabilities
transferred
or created in accordance with a scheme, means
the
person—
(i)
from whom that property or those rights or liabilities
[page
81:
line
25
]
are
transferred,
(ii)
who, or whose property, is subject to the interest or
right
created, or
(iii)
for whose benefit the liability is created.
(2)
In this Schedule—
[page
81:
line
30
]
(a)
a reference to employment includes (so far as necessary) a reference
to
employment in the civil service of the State, and
(b)
a reference to a contract of employment is to be treated (so far as
necessary)
as a reference to the terms of employment in the civil
service
of the State.
[page
81:
line
35
]
(3)
In this Schedule—
(a)
a reference to a right or to an entitlement to a right includes a
reference
to an entitlement to exercise a right, and
(b)
a reference to a right’s arising includes a reference to its becoming
exercisable.
[
p
age
82
]
Schedule
4
Section 93
Minor
and consequential amendments
Public
Records Act 1958
1
In
Part 2
of the Table at the end of
paragraph 3
of
Schedule 1
to the
Public
[page
82:
line
5
]
Records
Act 1958
—
(a)
omit the entry for the Rail Passengers’ Committees, and
(b)
at the appropriate place insert—
“
The
London Transport Users’ Committee.
”
Insolvency
Act 1986
[page
82:
line
10
]
2
In
Schedule 2A
to the
Insolvency Act 1986
, in
paragraph 10
(1)
(j)
, after
“section”
insert “
7B
or”.
Railways
Act 1993
3
The
Railways Act 1993
is amended as follows.
4
Omit
section 4
.
[page
82:
line
15
]
5
—
(1)
Section 9
is amended as follows.
(2)
In
subsection (1)
, omit from “having regard” to “above”.
(3)
In
subsection (3)
, after
paragraph (a)
insert—
“
(aa)
to comply with standards set by the Passengers’ Council
under
section
46
of the Railways Act 2026;
”
.
[page
82:
line
20
]
6
In section 13, for subsection (7) substitute—
“
(7)
In exercising a function for the purpose of this section, the duties
imposed
on the Office of Rail and Road by Chapter
2
of Part
1
of
the
Railways Act 2026 are to be treated as imposed on the CMA.
”
7
In section 15B, for subsection (2) substitute—
“
[page
82:
line
25
]
(2)
In exercising a function for the purpose of subsection (1), the duties
imposed
on the Office of Rail and Road by Chapter
2
of Part
1
of
the
Railways Act 2026 are to be treated as imposed on the CMA.
”
8
In section 18, omit subsection (6A).
9
Omit
section 19A
.
[page
82:
line
30
]
10
In section 22(1), omit “or Schedule 4A to this Act”.
11
In section 22C(2), for “, subsection (1) above or Schedule 4A to this Act”
substitute
“or subsection (1) above”.
12
Omit
sections 23
to
31
and the italic cross-heading before
section 23
.
13
Omit
section 50
.
[
p
age
83
]
14
Omit the italic cross-heading after
section 50
.
15
Omit
section 54
.
16
—
(1)
Section 55
is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (1), for “(5C)” substitute “(5B)”.
[page
83:
line
5
]
(3)
In
subsections (2)
and
(4)
, for “(5) to (5C) below” substitute “subsections
(5ZA)
to (5B)”.
(4)
Omit
subsections (5)
and
(5C)
.
(5)
In
subsection (5D)
—
(a)
in
paragraph (a)
, omit “(5) or”;
[page
83:
line
10
]
(b)
in
paragraph (b)
, omit “(5),”.
(6)
In
subsection (10)
—
(a)
in
paragraph (aa)
of the definition of “the appropriate authority”,
for
the words from “of—” to the end substitute “of a person under
Scottish
closure restrictions, the Scottish Ministers;”;
[page
83:
line
15
]
(b)
omit
paragraphs (ab)
to
(ad)
of that definition;
(c)
omit
paragraph (b)
of the definition of “relevant condition or
requirement”;
(d)
omit
paragraphs (b)
and
(c)
of the definition of “relevant operator”.
17
In
section 59
(6)
, omit
paragraphs (za)
,
(c)
and
(d)
.
[page
83:
line
20
]
18
—
(1)
Section 61
is amended as follows.
(2)
In
subsection (1)
, for
paragraph (a)
substitute—
“
(a)
notice of the petition has been served on the Secretary of
State,
and
”
.
(3)
In
subsection (2)
, for the words from “presented—” to “may” substitute
[page
83:
line
25
]
“presented,
the Secretary of State may”.
19
—
(1)
Section 62 is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (2), for
paragraph (a)
substitute—
“
(a)
notice of the application has been served on the Secretary
of
State, and
”
.
[page
83:
line
30
]
(3)
In subsection (3), for the words from “company—” to “may” substitute
“company,
the Secretary of State may”.
(4)
In
subsection (5)
, for
paragraph (a)
substitute—
“
(a)
notice of the application has been served on the Secretary
of
State, and
”
.
[page
83:
line
35
]
(5)
In
subsection (6)
, for the words from “company—” to “may” substitute
“company,
the Secretary of State may”.
(6)
In
subsection (7)
, for the words from “on—” to the end substitute “on the
Secretary
of State.”
[
p
age
84
]
20
—
(1)
Section 63
is amended as follows.
(2)
In
subsection (1)
omit “other than a Scottish protected railway company
or
a Welsh protected railway company”.
(3)
In
subsection (2)
omit from “and” at the end of
paragraph (a)
to the end.
[page
84:
line
5
]
21
Omit
section 64A
.
22
Omit section 66.
23
In
section 67
(competition functions of the ORR), after
subsection (6A)
insert—
“
(6B)
When exercising functions of the CMA by virtue of subsection (3),
[page
84:
line
10
]
the
Office of Rail and Road may have regard to any matter in respect
of
which a duty is imposed on it by
Chapter 2
of
Part 1
of the
Railways
Act 2026 if it is a matter to which the CMA could have
regard
when exercising those functions.
”
24
Omit
sections 76
and
76A
.
[page
84:
line
15
]
25
—
(1)
Section 83
(1)
is amended as follows.
(2)
Omit the entries for the following defined terms—
“the
1973 Act”
“additional
railway asset”
“appropriate
designating authority”
[page
84:
line
20
]
“appropriate
franchising authority”
“franchise
agreement”
“franchise
assets”
“franchise
operator”
“franchise
period”
[page
84:
line
25
]
“franchise
term”
“franchised
services”
“franchisee”
“Scottish
franchise agreement”
“through
ticket” and “through ticketing”
[page
84:
line
30
]
“Welsh
franchise agreement”
“Welsh
protected railway company”.
(3)
In the definition of “licence”, after “section” insert “
7B
or”.
26
—
(1)
Section 130 is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsections (1ZA) and (1ZB), omit “under Welsh franchise agreements”.
[page
84:
line
35
]
(3)
In subsection (1ZC)(a)(ii), omit “under a Welsh franchise agreement”.
(4)
In subsection (1A), for paragraphs (a) and (b) substitute—
“
(a)
a Scotland-only service; or
(b)
any other railway passenger service provided or secured to
any
extent by the Scottish Ministers.
”
[
p
age
85
]
27
—
(1)
Section 135 is amended as follows.
(2)
Omit subsections (4) and (8).
(3)
For subsection (9) substitute—
“
(9)
Nothing in this section is to be read as limiting the conditions which
[page
85:
line
5
]
may
be included in licences, whether or not with respect to free or
concessionary
travel.
”
28
Omit section 136.
29
—
(1)
Section 145
is amended as follows.
(2)
In
subsection (1)
(a)
, after “this Act” insert “or the Railways Act 2026”.
[page
85:
line
10
]
(3)
In subsection (2)—
(a)
before paragraph (a) insert—
“
(za)
for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out by
Great
British Railways of its statutory functions
(within
the meaning of the Railways Act 2026);
”
, and
[page
85:
line
15
]
(b)
in paragraph (a), for “or the Railways Act 2005” substitute “, the
Railways
Act 2005 or the Railways Act 2026”.
(4)
In
subsection (2)
, after
paragraph (gc)
insert—
“
(gd)
for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out by the
Passengers’
Council of any of its functions under the
[page
85:
line
20
]
Railways
Act 2026
;
”
.
(5)
At the end of
subsection (5)
(a)
insert “or under any provision of the
Railways
Act 2026”.
30
—
(1)
Section 149 is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (1)—
[page
85:
line
25
]
(a)
after “this Act” insert “or the Railways Act 2026”,
(b)
after paragraph (a) insert—
“
(aa)
by sending it to the person by agreed electronic
means
(for example, by email to an agreed address);
or
”
, and
[page
85:
line
30
]
(c)
in paragraphs (b) and (c), after “paragraph (a)” insert “or
(aa)
”.
(3)
After that subsection insert—
“
(1A)
Subsection (1)
(aa)
does not apply in relation to a document required
or
authorised by virtue of sections 118 to 120 or 149A to be given
or
served by the Secretary of State to or on any person.
”
[page
85:
line
35
]
(4)
After subsection (3) insert—
“
(3A)
A notice sent to a person by electronic means is, unless the contrary
is
proved, to be treated as having been given on the working day
immediately
following the day on which it was sent.
”
[
p
age
86
]
(5)
At the end of subsection (5) insert—
“
“
working
day”
means any day other than—
(a)
a Saturday or a Sunday,
(b)
Christmas Day or Good Friday; or
[page
86:
line
5
]
(c)
a day which is a bank holiday under the Banking and
Financial
Dealings Act 1971 in any part of the United
Kingdom.
”
31
Omit Schedule 4A.
32
—
(1)
Schedule 6 is amended as follows.
[page
86:
line
10
]
(2)
Omit paragraph 1(aa).
(3)
In paragraphs 3, 7(2) and (4), 8, 9 and 10(5), for “appropriate national
authority”,
in each place it occurs, substitute “Secretary of State”.
33
—
(1)
Paragraph 2
of
Schedule 7
is amended as follows.
(2)
In
sub-paragraph (2)
, for “appropriate national authority” substitute
[page
86:
line
15
]
“Secretary
of State”.
(3)
In
sub-paragraph (3)
, for “appropriate national authority, it” substitute
“Secretary
of State, they”.
(4)
In
sub-paragraph (4)
, for “appropriate national authority”, in each place it
occurs,
substitute “Secretary of State”.
[page
86:
line
20
]
(5)
In
sub-paragraph (5)
, for “appropriate national authority” substitute
“Secretary
of State”.
(6)
In
sub-paragraph (6)
—
(a)
for the words from the beginning to “shall” substitute “In
determining
whether and in what manner to exercise any power
[page
86:
line
25
]
conferred
by this paragraph, the Secretary of State must”;
(b)
for the subsequent reference to “appropriate national authority”
substitute
“Secretary of State”.
(7)
In
sub-paragraph (7)
, for “the appropriate national authority”—
(a)
in the first place it occurs substitute “the Secretary of State”;
[page
86:
line
30
]
(b)
in the second place it occurs substitute “they”.
(8)
Omit
sub-paragraphs (9)
and
(10)
.
34
In paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 11, in the definition of “eligible person”, in
paragraph
(a)(ii) for the words from “or a body” to “agreement” substitute
“,
Great British Railways or a subsidiary of Great British Railways”.
[page
86:
line
35
]
Greater
London Authority Act 1999
35
The Greater London Authority Act 1999 is amended as follows.
36
—
(1)
Section 163 is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (4A)—
[
p
age
87
]
(a)
for “Network Rail Limited”, in each place it occurs, substitute “Great
British
Railways”;
(b)
for “Network Rail”, in both places it occurs, substitute “Great British
Railways”.
[page
87:
line
5
]
(3)
In subsection (8)—
(a)
in the definition of “land used by Network Rail”, for “Network
Rail”,
in each place it occurs, substitute “Great British Railways”;
(b)
omit the definition of “Network Rail”.
37
—
(1)
Section 175 is amended as follows.
[page
87:
line
10
]
(2)
In subsection (1)(a)(ii), for “franchise agreements,” substitute “a public
service
contract awarded as mentioned in
section 31
(2)
of the Railways Act
2026,”.
(3)
Omit subsection (1A).
38
In section 177(1)(b) and (2), for “the Secretary of State” substitute “Great
[page
87:
line
15
]
British
Railways”.
39
Omit section 205.
40
Omit section 252B(4).
Licensing
Act 2003
41
In
section 157
(7)
of the
Licensing Act 2003
, in the definition of “train
[page
87:
line
20
]
operator”,
for “section 8” substitute “section
7B
or 8”.
Railways
Act 2005
42
The Railways Act 2005 is amended as follows.
43
Omit sections 3 and 4.
44
In
section 5
, after
subsection (3)
insert—
“
[page
87:
line
25
]
(3A)
When preparing or revising the strategy, the Scottish Ministers must
consult
the Passengers’ Council.
”
45
In section 6, omit subsections (5), (6) and (8).
46
—
(1)
Section 8 is amended as follows.
(2)
Omit subsections (1), (7) and (8).
[page
87:
line
30
]
(3)
In subsection (2) omit—
(a)
“also”; and
(b)
“otherwise than under franchise agreements”.
(4)
In subsection (5), omit “(1) or”.
(5)
In the heading, omit “Franchising and”.
[page
87:
line
35
]
47
—
(1)
Section 10 is amended as follows.
(2)
Omit subsections (1), (3), (6), (10) and (11).
[
p
age
88
]
(3)
In subsection (4) omit—
(a)
“also”; and
(b)
“otherwise than under franchise agreements”.
(4)
In subsection (8), omit “(3) or”.
[page
88:
line
5
]
(5)
In the heading, omit “Franchising and”.
48
Omit sections 13 and 14 and the italic cross-heading before section 13.
49
Omit section 16.
50
Omit section 18.
51
Omit section 20.
[page
88:
line
10
]
52
—
(1)
Section 22 is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (1)(a), for the words from “in” to the end substitute “under
section
31 of the Railways Act 2026;”.
(3)
Omit subsection (10).
(4)
In the heading, omit “non-franchised”.
[page
88:
line
15
]
53
—
(1)
Section 23 is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (1)(a), for the words from “in” to the end substitute “under
section
31 of the Railways Act 2026;”.
(3)
Omit subsection (8).
(4)
In the heading, omit “non-franchised”.
[page
88:
line
20
]
54
—
(1)
Section 24 is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (2)(a), for “a franchised service”, substitute “a service provided
under
section 31 of the Railways Act 2026”.
(3)
In subsection (7), omit “ franchise agreement or any other”.
(4)
For subsection (9) substitute—
“
[page
88:
line
25
]
(9)
The duty of the national authority under subsection (8) is discharged
without
its taking further steps so long as the provisions of any
arrangements,
in force at the time of the proposal, so far as they
require
the provision of the services, continue in force without
modification.
”
[page
88:
line
30
]
(5)
In the heading, omit “franchised or”.
55
In section 32(12)—
(a)
omit “franchise agreement or other”;
(b)
in paragraph (a), omit “franchised service or”;
(c)
in the words after paragraph (b), omit “agreement or”.
[page
88:
line
35
]
56
In section 34(2B), omit “under a Welsh franchise agreement”.
57
In section 35(6C), omit “under a Welsh franchise agreement”.
[
p
age
89
]
58
For section 36(7) substitute—
“
(7)
Where a service is designated as experimental or its designation is
extended,
the person designating must give notice of the designation
or
extension to the person who is to provide the service.
”
[page
89:
line
5
]
59
—
(1)
Section 37 is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (1)(a), for “a franchise agreement under which” substitute
“arrangements
under which it is required that”.
(3)
In subsection (2)(a), for “a franchise agreement” substitute “arrangements
of
the type mentioned in subsection (1)(a)”.
[page
89:
line
10
]
60
In section 38(2A), omit “under a Welsh franchise agreement”.
61
In section 39, omit subsections (1) to (3).
62
—
(1)
Section 40 is amended as follows.
(2)
For subsections (4) and (5) substitute—
“
(4)
For the purposes of this section the appropriate national authority
[page
89:
line
15
]
is—
(a)
in a case where the railway passenger service that is
interrupted
or discontinued is a service which may be
designated
under section 25 of the Railways Act 2026, the
Secretary
of State;
[page
89:
line
20
]
(b)
in a case where the railway passenger service that is
interrupted
or discontinued is a service which may be
designated
under section 26 of that Act, the Scottish
Ministers;
(c)
in a case where the railway passenger service that is
[page
89:
line
25
]
interrupted
or discontinued is a service which may be
designated
under section 27 of that Act, the Welsh Ministers,
and
where in any case there is more than one appropriate national
authority
they shall each have the powers conferred by this section.
”
63
—
(1)
Section 41 is amended as follows.
[page
89:
line
30
]
(2)
In subsection (2), after “Passenger Transport Executive,” insert “a mayoral
combined
authority, a mayoral combined county authority,”.
(3)
In subsection (4), in both places it occurs, after “Passenger Transport
Executive”,
insert “, mayoral combined authority or mayoral combined
county
authority”.
[page
89:
line
35
]
64
In section 42(1B), omit “under a Welsh franchise agreement”.
65
—
(1)
Section 45 is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (1)—
[
p
age
90
]
(a)
at the appropriate place, insert—
“
“
mayoral
combined authority”
and “mayoral combined county
authority”
have the same meanings as in the English
Devolution
and Community Empowerment Act 2026;
”
[page
90:
line
5
]
(b)
in the definition of “railway funding authority”, after paragraph (d)
insert—
“
(da)
a mayoral combined authority;
(db)
a mayoral combined county authority;
”
;
(c)
in the definition of “secured service” omit paragraph (a).
[page
90:
line
10
]
(3)
In subsection (5A) omit “under a Welsh franchise agreement”.
(4)
In subsection (8), at the end insert “or in an Act or a Measure of Senedd
Cymru”.
66
In section 46(7)(a), after “section” insert “
7B
or”.
67
For section 48(4) substitute—
“
[page
90:
line
15
]
(4)
In this section “relevant Scottish service” means—
(a)
a Scotland-only service;
(b)
a railway passenger service that is provided to any extent
under
section 31(3) of the Railways Act 2026; or
(c)
a station service provided in relation to a station in Scotland
[page
90:
line
20
]
at
which services falling within paragraph (a) or (b) make a
scheduled
call.
”
68
For section 48A(4) substitute—
“
(4)
In this section “relevant Welsh service” means—
(a)
a railway passenger service that is provided to any extent
[page
90:
line
25
]
under
section 31(4) of the Railways Act 2026; or
(b)
a station service provided in relation to a station at which
only
services falling within paragraph (a) make a scheduled
call.
”
69
Omit section 52.
[page
90:
line
30
]
70
Omit Schedule 4.
71
In paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 7, after paragraph (e) insert—
“
(ea)
if the proposal affects its area, a mayoral combined authority;
(eb)
if the proposal affects its area, a mayoral combined county
authority;
”
[page
90:
line
35
]
Railway
(Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2005
72
The
Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2005
(S.I.
2005/3050)
are amended as follows.
73
In
regulation 2
(1)
, in the definition of “railway undertaking”, after “private
undertaking,”
insert “other than Great British Railways”.
[
p
age
91
]
74
—
(1)
Regulation 11
is amended as follows.
(2)
In
paragraph (1)
, omit from “having regard” to the end.
(3)
In
paragraph (3)
, after
paragraph (d)
insert—
“
(e)
requirements to comply with standards set by the Passengers’
[page
91:
line
5
]
Council
under section
46
of the Railways Act 2026;
”
.
75
After
regulation 16
insert—
16A.
“
Role
of the Passengers’ Council
(1)
The ORR must consult the Passengers’ Council—
(a)
before granting a railway undertaking licence which authorises the
[page
91:
line
10
]
carriage
of passengers by railway (a “railway passenger licence”),
(b)
before amending a railway passenger licence if the proposed
amendments
relate to functions of the Council,
(c)
before issuing a SNRP to the holder of a railway passenger licence,
and
[page
91:
line
15
]
(d)
before modifying the conditions of a SNRP issued to the holder of
a
railway passenger licence if the proposed modifications relate to
functions
of the Council.
(2)
As soon as practicable after granting or amending a railway passenger
licence,
the ORR must send a copy of the licence or the amendments to
[page
91:
line
20
]
the
Passengers’ Council.
(3)
As soon as practicable after issuing a SNRP to the holder of a railway
passenger
licence or modifying the conditions of a SNRP issued to the
holder
of a railway passenger licence, the ORR must send a copy of the
SNRP
or the modifications to the Passengers’ Council.
”
[page
91:
line
25
]
76
Omit
regulations 17
and
19
.
77
In
Schedule 3
, omit
paragraph 6
.
Regulation
(EC) No 1371/2007
on rail passengers’ rights and obligations
78
Regulation (EC) No 1371/2007 of the European Parliament and of the
Council
of 23 October 2007 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations is
[page
91:
line
30
]
amended
as follows.
79
In
Article 2
(1)
of
Regulation (EC) No 1371/2007 of the European Parliament
and
of the Council
of 23rd October 2007 on rail passengers’ rights and
obligations,
after “provided by” insert—
(a)
Great British Railways, or
80
In
Article 29
(2)
(a)
(information to passengers about their rights)—
(a)
for “regulations 13(1) and 18(1) and (3)” substitute “regulation 13(1)”,
and
[
p
age
92
]
(b)
after “2010” insert “,
section 44
of the Railways Act 2026 and
section
252DA
of the Greater London Authority Act 1999”.
81
In
Article 30
(2)
(enforcement), for
paragraph (b)
substitute—
“
(b)
to the Passengers’ Council in relation to a matter mentioned
[page
92:
line
5
]
in
paragraph
(a)
or
(b)
of section
44
of the Railways Act 2026;
(c)
to the London Transport Users’ Committee in relation to a
matter
mentioned in
paragraph (a)
or
(b)
of
section 252DA
(1)
of
the
Greater London Authority Act 1999
.
”
Local
Transport Act 2008
[page
92:
line
10
]
82
In
section 102I
(7)
of the
Local Transport Act 2008
, after
paragraph (f)
insert—
“
(fa)
Great British Railways;
”
.
Planning
Act 2008
83
In
section 25
(5)
(a)
of the
Planning Act 2008
, for “section 8” substitute
[page
92:
line
15
]
“section
7B
or 8”.
Equality
Act 2010
84
In
Part 1
of
Schedule 19
to the
Equality Act 2010
(authorities subject to
public
sector equality duty), at the appropriate place under the heading
“Transport”,
insert—
“
[page
92:
line
20
]
Great
British Railways.
”
Rail
Passengers’ Rights and Obligations Regulations 2010
85
The
Rail Passengers’ Rights and Obligations Regulations 2010
(S.I.
2010/1504)
are amended as follows.
86
—
(1)
Regulation 17
is amended as follows.
[page
92:
line
25
]
(2)
In the heading, at the beginning insert “Great British Railways”.
(3)
In
paragraph (1)
, for “(2) and” substitute “(1A) to”.
(4)
After
paragraph (1)
insert—
“
(1A)
This paragraph applies to a breach by Great British Railways of the
requirements
imposed on Great British Railways by the provisions
[page
92:
line
30
]
of
the European Regulation listed in the Schedule.
”
.
87
Omit
regulation 18
.
Railways
(Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016
88
—
(1)
The 2016 Regulations are amended as follows.
(2)
Omit
regulation 11
.
[
p
age
93
]
(3)
In
regulation 12
(2)
(c)
, omit “the strategy referred to in regulation 11 and”.
(4)
Omit
regulation 31
(1)
.
Railways Bill
[As amended in Committee]
A
bill
to
Make provision about railways and railway services; and for connected purposes.
Presented by
Secretary Heidi Alexander
supported by
The Prime Minister, The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary Steve Reed, Secretary Ed Miliband, Secretary Peter Kyle, Secretary Douglas Alexander, Secretary Jo Stevens and James Murray
Ordered, by The
House of Commons
, to be Printed,
10th February 2026
.
© Parliamentary copyright House of Commons 2026
This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament Licence,
which is published at
www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright
Published by the authority of the House of Commons