Station access
Network Rail owns the freehold to the vast majority of the 2,506 railway stations in Great Britain. Most stations are leased to and operated by one or other of the franchised passenger train operating companies.
Network Rail operates only the following major stations:
London |
Outside London |
| Cannon Street | Birmingham New Street |
| Charing Cross | Edinburgh Waverley |
| Euston | Glasgow Central (High Level) |
| Fenchurch Street | Leeds |
| Gatwick Airport | Liverpool Lime Street |
| King's Cross | Manchester Piccadilly |
| Liverpool Street | |
| London Bridge | |
| Paddington | |
| London Victoria | |
| Waterloo |
The operator of each station is known as the station facility owner. Train operators seeking access to stations they do not operate themselves need to enter into an access contract with the relevant station facility owner. Access to stations is regulated under the Railways Act 1993, hence station access contracts are subject to approval by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) (unless the station in question has been exempted from the access regime). Once the contracts are approved they become access agreements.
The matrix of obligations imposed under station leases and station access contracts between Network Rail, as freeholder and landlord, a train operating company, as station facility owner, and any other train operating companies, as beneficiaries, for a multi-user station is illustrated by this diagram.
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When considering applications for approval of station access contracts, the ORR must have regard to its statutory duties, which are set out in section 4 of the Railways Act. The ORR will generally be concerned to ensure that the contracts establish clear and appropriate obligations, remedies and incentives on the parties. The ORR has published a suite of template station access contracts and wish to understand the reasons should parties wish to depart from these templates.
Current applications and decisions
When considering applications for approval, the Office consults certain statutory bodies and other potentially affected parties as appropriate to ensure that their views on the implications of the proposed contract or contract amendment are sought and taken into account. Details of any current consultation underway can be seen in the Applications and decisions section.
All approved agreements and subsequently approved amendments are held on the ORR public register. Details of significant decisions on station access applications, including background papers and consultees' representations, are available in the Applications and decisions section.
Regulatory reform - development of the stations code
The ORR is in the process of developing an improved contractual framework for station access based on the establishment of a new stations code. Details of this initiative, including the final versions of the Code documentation are available on the Stations Code page.
Contacts
Contact details for the ORR Stations and Depots Team are available on the Contacts page.
Consultation on a modification to the Independent Station Access Conditions
