The Railways Infrastructure (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations implement the provisions of European Parliament and Council Directive 2007/58/EC (O.J. No. L315, 3.12.07, p. 44) of 23rd October 2007 amending Council Directive 91/440/EC on the development of the Community’s railways and Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure.

These Regulations amend the provisions of The Railways Infrastructure (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 (S.R. 2005/537) (“the 2005 Regulations”) to liberalise international passenger services. They also amend the requirements for framework agreements.

Regulation 2(2) amends a number of definitions in the 2005 Regulations.

Regulation 2(3) substitutes the provision on access rights in the 2005 Regulations extending the provisions to international passenger services and adding the right to pick up passengers at any station and set them down at another including within the same Member State. The Department is given authority to limit access rights for international passenger services in certain circumstances.

Regulations 2(2), (9) and (11) remove references to “international groupings” from the 2005 Regulations enabling the Regulations to cover any international passenger service.

Regulation 2(4) places a requirement on an applicant wanting to operate an international passenger service to give notice to the infrastructure manager and the Department in relation to that application. The Department must provide a copy of this information to certain specified parties.

Regulation 2(5) sets new durations for framework agreements and specifies the conditions that must be met to allow their extension beyond a period of five years.

Regulation 2(6) inserts a new provision in the 2005 Regulations enabling the Department to decide whether a service is an international passenger service and to decide, on the request of certain parties or on its own initiative, whether such service would compromise the economic equilibrium of a relevant public service contract. In making a decision in relation to that service the Department may issue a direction to limit access rights where appropriate. It also provides that specified parties may make a request for reconsideration of a decision or direction of the Department. The Department will publish the criteria to be used for this assessment. It also permits any person to make an application to the Court to appeal a decision.

Regulation 2(7) inserts references to Directive 2007/58/EC.

Regulations 2(8) remove reference to “international groupings” and “transit rights” from the 2005 Regulations.

Regulations 2(9) revokes regulation 40 (international grouping) of the 2005 Regulations.

Regulation 2(10) makes a breach of an obligation to comply with a decision or direction of the Department under Regulation 27A actionable by persons sustaining loss, damage or injury caused by that breach and enforceable by the Department by way of civil proceedings.

Regulation 2(11) corrects a linguistic error in the 2005 Regulations where the English text of Article 8.2 of Directive 2001/14/EC differs from that of the French and German texts.