Office of Rail Regulation welcomes Scottish Ministers’ statement of rail requirements

13 July 2007
ORR/19/07

Scottish Ministers have today published what they want the railways in Scotland to deliver in the period 2009-14 and the amount of public money they will make available to support the railways.

Welcoming the announcement, ORR Chief Executive Bill Emery said: “This is a key stage in our periodic review of Network Rail’s funding and outputs. The Government in Scotland has said what it wants from the railways and how much it is prepared to pay. 

“It is now for Network Rail, working with First ScotRail and other industry partners, to finalise its plans to meet the requirements of Scottish Ministers and the needs of rail users – both passengers and freight. We will also be looking for further significant improvements in Network Rail’s efficiency and ever better value for money year on year.”

Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Kelly is expected to publish her requirements shortly, focusing on the railways of England and Wales.

Network Rail will set out and publish its strategic business plan to ORR by 31 October, showing how both sets of requirements can be delivered. ORR expects Network Rail to work closely with the rail industry and stakeholders to ensure the plan is a well-founded and efficient industry-wide plan. ORR will also consult on Network Rail’s plan and publish an assessment of it in February 2008.

Before that, in December 2007, ORR will publish an initial assessment of whether each government’s rail requirements can be delivered for the funds available. This will provide the governments in London and Edinburgh with a steer on whether the allocated funding will be adequate to meet all the requirements.

Notes to editors:

1. The Office of Rail Regulation is the independent safety and economic regulator of railways in Great Britain.
2. Following the requirements of Schedule 4A to the Railways Act 1993, in February 2007 ORR asked Scottish Ministers to provide it with:
   ‘Information about what they want to be achieved by Scottish railway activities during the review period; and
   such information as it is reasonable for them to provide about the public financial resources that are or are likely to become available to be applied during that period for purposes that contribute (directly or indirectly) towards the achievement of what they want’.
   Similar information is to be provided by the Secretary of State for Transport, in respect of Great Britain as a whole other than wholly Scottish railway activities.
3. ORR’s 2008 periodic review (PR08) will determine Network Rail’s outputs, revenue requirement and access charges for control period 4 (CP4), which will run from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2014. More information on the Periodic Review process can be found here: http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.7596.

Press enquiries

ORR Press Office – 020 7282 2188