Railways Act 1993

127 Power of the Board to provide business support services for other operators

(1) The Board shall have power to provide business support services for—

(a) the Regulator;

(b) any person who provides, or secures the provision of, railway services; or

(c) any person carrying on any undertaking which was, immediately before 1st April 1993, carried on by the Board or any wholly owned subsidiary of the Board.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the expression, the provision of “business support services” includes for the purposes of this section—

(a) the provision of any service or facility for or in relation to—

(i) information technology;

(ii) property management;

(iii) marketing;

(iv) the issuing of tickets;

(v) research; or

(vi) engineering; and

(b) the provision of technical or specialist advice.

(3) If the Secretary of State is of the opinion—

(a) that the Board has ceased to provide business support services of any class or description, or

(b) that it is no longer necessary, or no longer desirable, for the Board to have power to provide any business support services, or business support services of any class or description,

he may by order provide that, as from the date on which the order comes into force, the Board shall cease to have power to provide the business support services in question.

(4) The power of the Secretary of State to make an order under subsection (3) above is exercisable in relation to any power of the Board to provide business support services, whether under this section or otherwise.

(5) An order under subsection (3) above may make such consequential amendments or repeals in any enactment as may appear to the Secretary of State to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of, or in connection with, the order.

(6) In this section “railway services” has the same meaning as in Part I above.