Office of Rail Regulation determines in favour of Network and Vehicle Change Committee’s decision on Ruscombe Loop

31 January 2005
ORR/01/05

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has today published its determination in the appeal by English Welsh & Scottish Railway Limited (EWS) against the decision (No. NV58) of the Network and Vehicle Change Committee (NVCC), a sub-committee of the Access Dispute Resolution Committee.

The appeal which was made to ORR under Part G of the network code was against the decision of the NVCC that Network Rail may proceed with a network change to remove the Ruscombe Up Goods Loop on the Great Western Main Line. 

ORR has determined that the NVCC’s determination NV58 should stand and has rejected EWS’s appeal.

Notes for editors

1. Network Code: The network code is the central commercial code for the railway industry and is a common set of rules applying to all parties to regulated access contracts with Network Rail. Part G of the network code concerns changes to the network and includes the circumstances under which train operators can object to network changes proposed by Network Rail.  
2. Jurisdiction: The Office of Rail Regulation is the appeal body for certain classes of dispute in the railway industry, including under Part G of the network code. Appeals under Part G only come to the Office of Rail Regulation once the Network and Vehicle Change Committee, a sub-committee of the Access Dispute Resolution Committee, has determined the matter and if one of the parties to the dispute remains dissatisfied.  The Access Dispute Resolution Committee (and its sub-committees) were established at the time of industry restructuring of the railway in 1994 as a railway industry dispute resolution body. 
3. 3. Office of Rail Regulation determination of an appeal by English Welsh & Scottish Railway Limited against a determination of the Network and Vehicle Change Committee regarding the proposed removal of Ruscombe Loop (Ref. NV58) is available from the Appeals section of the ORR website (Related links). 

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