The licensing regime

European licences

The Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2005 (the Regulations) require most persons wishing to operate either passenger trains or freight trains in Great Britain to hold an appropriate European Passenger Licence or European Freight Licence, and a Statement of National Regulatory Provisions (SNRP).

ORR grants two different types of European licence (see Licence obligations):

The European Passenger Licence authorises a railway undertaking [see definition in the Glossary in the right hand navigation bar] to be the operator of a train being used on a network: for the purpose of carrying passengers by railway; for a purpose preparatory or incidental to, or consequential on, using a train for that purpose; and for the purpose of assisting other operators of railway assets. This is the type of licence held by typical franchised passenger train operators.

The European Freight Licence authorises a railway undertaking to be the operator of a train being used on a network: for the purpose of carrying goods by railway; for a purpose preparatory or incidental to, or consequential on, using a train for that purpose; and for the purpose of assisting other operators of railway assets. This is the type of licence held by typical freight train operators.

In principle, the European licences permit railway undertakings to operate the described services in any EEA state. To operate within Great Britain holders of European licences will also require a Statement of National Regulatory Provisions (SNRP) from ORR, in addition to securing safety, access and other approvals. Other EEA states will require European licence holders to satisfy  national regulatory requirements particular to each state.

Schedule 4 of the Regulations mentions template licences and SNRPs which were published on 25 October 2005. These were:

• European Passenger Licence (Standard)
• Passenger SNRP (Standard)
• European Freight Licence (Standard)
• Freight SNRP (Standard)