Route utilisation strategies (RUS)
Following the Department for Transport‘s White Paper ‘The Future of Rail’ and the subsequent Railways Act 2005, Network Rail took on responsibility for producing Route Utilisation Strategies (RUSs) for the rail network or part of the network, a role previously undertaken by the Strategic Rail Authority.
Condition 7 of Network Rail’s network licence was modified by ORR in June 2005 to incorporate this new responsibility, and at the same time, ORR also published guidelines on RUSs. Condition 7 outlines a process that the licence holder must follow for establishing a RUS and gives ORR the right to issue a notice of objection as an important safeguard in the event that a RUS does not adequately promote the route utilisation objective or does not fulfil the specified procedural requirements.
Condition 7 contains an objective for each RUS. This is:
‘the effective and efficient use and development of the capacity available, consistent with funding that is, or is reasonably likely to become, available during the period of the route utilisation strategy and with the licence holder’s performance of the duty.’
A RUS takes a strategic look at the rail network and its usage and capability in relation to current and future demand. Where shortfalls in capacity are identified, the RUS will identify options for addressing them. These options may involve timetabling changes or investment. A RUS therefore seeks to balance capacity, passenger and freight demand, operational performance, infrastructure maintenance, and costs, to address the requirements of funders and stakeholders.
ORR has issued guidelines (see ‘Related Links’) specifying how Network Rail should develop RUSs. ORR’s guidelines identify two purposes of RUSs. These are to:
- enable Network Rail and persons providing services in relation to railways to better plan their businesses and funders to better plan their activities; and
- set out feasible options for network capacity, timetable outputs and network capability, and funding implications of those options for persons providing services to railways and funders.
Network Rail is developing RUSs for various routes across the rail network, starting with those that were not addressed by RUSs produced by the SRA. Details of Network Rail’s work can be found on its website.
Condition 7 also requires Network Rail to propose a programme of RUS establishment dates for ORR’s approval. This submission and approval process was completed in June 2006 (see ‘Related Links’), and the programme is being kept under regular review.
Network Rail has developed a consultation process. Each individual RUS is overseen by a number of meetings of industry representatives for the route under consideration. ORR is an observer at many of these meetings. Wider stakeholders are invited to make proposals for inclusion in the RUS, and to attend periodic wider consultation meetings as each RUS is developed.
Network Rail prepares each RUS steered by the relevant Stakeholder Management Group at each of the development stages: scoping, baseline, options, and recommendations. It then publishes a draft RUS and allows two to three months for consultation. At the end of the consultation period, Network Rail takes account of any material responses and then produces the final RUS, which it publishes and sends to ORR. ORR then has 60 days in which to issue a notice of objection to all or part of the RUS. In the absence of such notice, the RUS becomes established. If any stakeholder felt that a final RUS did not address its representations or there are other issues it wishes to raise, ORR would expect it to make that fact known within 30 days of publication. Our contact details are - e-mail: rus@orr.gsi.gov.uk.
