Station access contracts
A station access contract provides the beneficiary with permission for its trains to call at a station and for the use of specified facilities. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has published four standard template station access contracts, and are available in Word 2000 format below (these are English Law versions);
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Passenger Station Access Agreement (single station) for contracts between a station facility owner and the operator of regular scheduled passenger train services
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Passenger Station Access Agreement (multiple station) for contracts between a station facility owner and the operator of regular scheduled passenger train services
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Freight Station Access Agreement for contracts between a station facility owner and a freight company
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Charter Station Access Agreement for contracts between a station facility owner and the operator of passenger train services that do not follow a regular scheduled pattern
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Diversionary Station Access Agreement for contracts between a station facility owner and a beneficiary when engineering works prevent access to the station which the beneficiary would otherwise be using under its existing access agreement
Each station access contract incorporates by reference the relevant station access conditions and station-specific annexes.
The station access conditions are standard rules which govern the relationship between all the contracting parties at a station, covering matters such as the process for agreeing changes to the station, and the remedies available when things go wrong. Three sets of station access conditions are available:
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National Station Access Conditions 1996 (England and Wales)
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National Station Access Conditions 1996 (Scotland)
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Independent Station Access Conditions (1996 edition) - these apply to the stations operated by Network Rail
The station-specific annexes cover the details relevant to the specific station, such as a station plan and a description of the station facilities, and include a copy of the station lease (where relevant). At stations operated by franchisees, the annexes also include a copy of the standard collateral agreement between Network Rail and each beneficiary, under which a beneficiary can enforce Network Rail's obligations under the station access conditions should the station facility owner fail to enforce them itself.
In May 2008, we consulted with the industry on a proposed modification to the Independent Station Access Conditions (1996) to allow the level of Qualifying Expenditure at Network Rail managed stations to be fixed for a period of five years, replacing the process of annual negotiations.
Following consideration of consultation responses, we concluded that we would modify the Independent Station Access Conditions. We issued our modification notice on 7 August 2008 and the modifications come into effect on 4 February 2009.
A copy of the consultation documentation can be found below.
