Regulator acts to protect railway land

3 August 2001
ORR/20/01

The Rail Regulator, Tom Winsor, has set out how he intends to ensure that land which may be critical to the development of railways is not lost. Railtrack has accepted the proposed modification to its network licence. Commenting on the proposal Mr. Winsor said:

"Parts of Railtrack's property portfolio may be required for the future development of the railway - it should be retained for that purpose. My proposed modification plugs an important gap in the regulatory framework and, in important cases of land disposal, requires Railtrack to obtain my specific consent. I have also published my proposed criteria for giving consents on a case-by-case basis.

"It is important that the process strikes the right balance between proper protection of the public interest on the one hand and not imposing unnecessary limitations on Railtrack's freedom to deal with uncontroversial cases on the other. For that reason, the new arrangements exempt from the controls certain cases of land disposal which should be allowed to proceed without specific regulatory approval. The process is streamlined and efficient whilst at the same time protecting important land for railway purposes."

Where Railtrack does need the Regulator's specific consent for a disposal, it must give him at least three months written notice. The Regulator will then consult interested parties before reaching a conclusion.

The publication - Notice of proposed modification to Railtrack's network licence: Disposal of land- and maps A-G and H - M (available from here as an Acrobat PDF files) is being distributed widely. The 28-day statutory consultation period closes on 31 August 2001.

A copy of the document is also available in hard copy from the ORR Librarian, Sue MacSwan, 1 Waterhouse Square, 138-142 Holborn, London EC1N 2TQ, tel: 020 7282 2001, fax: 020 7282 2045, e-mail: rail.library@dial.pipex.com.

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