Railways Act 1993

18 Access agreements: contracts requiring the approval of the Regulator

(1) A facility owner shall not enter into an access contract to which this section applies unless—

(a) he does so pursuant to directions under section 17 above; or

(b) the Regulator has approved the terms of the access contract and the facility owner enters into the contract pursuant to directions under this section;

and any access contract to which this section applies which is entered into otherwise than in compliance with paragraph (a) or (b) above shall be void.

(2) The access contracts to which this section applies are those under which the beneficiary obtains, or, in the case of an access contract conferring an access option, may obtain, (whether for himself alone or for himself and associates of his)—

(a) from a facility owner whose railway facility is track, permission to use that track for the purpose of the operation of trains on that track by the beneficiary;

(b) from a facility owner whose railway facility is a station, permission to use that station, for or in connection with the operation of trains by the beneficiary;

(c) from a facility owner whose railway facility is a light maintenance depot, permission to use that light maintenance depot for the purpose of obtaining light maintenance services for or in connection with the operation of trains by the beneficiary, whether the facility owner is to provide those services himself or to secure their provision by another;

(d) from any facility owner, permission to use the facility owner’s railway facility for the purpose of stabling, or otherwise temporarily holding, rolling stock in connection with the operation of trains on any track by the beneficiary; or

(e) from any facility owner, permission to use the facility owner’s railway facility for or in connection with the operation of a network, station or light maintenance depot by the beneficiary;

but this subsection is subject to subsections (3) and (4) below.

(3) This section does not apply to an access contract—

(a) if and to the extent that the railway facility to which the access contract relates is, by virtue of section 20 below, an exempt facility; or

(b) if and to the extent that the access contract is an international railway access contract.

(4) In subsection (2) above—

(a) paragraph (a) does not extend to permission to use track for the purpose of providing network services on that track;

(b) paragraph (b) does not extend to permission to use a station for the purpose of operating that station;

(c) paragraph (c) does not extend to permission to use a light maintenance depot for the purpose of enabling the beneficiary to carry out light maintenance;

(d) if and to the extent that the railway facility mentioned in paragraph (e) is track, that paragraph does not extend to obtaining permission to use that track for the purpose—

(i) of providing network services on that track, or

(ii) of operating any network in which that track is comprised,

unless the purpose of entering into the access contract is to enable the beneficiary to operate on behalf of the Franchising Director a network in which the track in question is comprised;

(e) if and to the extent that the railway facility mentioned in that paragraph is a station, that paragraph does not extend to obtaining permission to use that station for the purpose—

(i) of providing station services at that station, or

(ii) of operating that station,

unless the purpose of entering into the access contract is to enable the beneficiary to operate the station on behalf of the Franchising Director;

(f) if and to the extent that the railway facility mentioned in that paragraph is a light maintenance depot, that paragraph does not extend to obtaining permission to use that light maintenance depot for the purpose—

(i) of carrying out light maintenance at that light maintenance depot, or

(ii) of operating that light maintenance depot,

unless the purpose of entering into the access contract is to enable the beneficiary to operate the light maintenance depot on behalf of the Franchising Director.

(5) In any case where—

(a) a facility owner and another person (the “other party”) have agreed the terms on which they propose to enter into an access contract to which this section applies, but

(b) the circumstances are such that, by virtue of subsection (1)(b) above, those terms must be approved, and directions must be given, by the Regulator before the facility owner may enter into the proposed access contract,

it shall be for the facility owner to submit the proposed access contract to the Regulator for approval of its terms.

(6) If, on the submission of a proposed access contract pursuant to subsection (5) above, the Regulator approves its terms, he shall issue directions to the facility owner—

(a) requiring him to enter into the proposed access contract within such period as may be specified for the purpose in the directions; but

(b) releasing him from his duty to do so if the other party fails to enter into the proposed access contract within such period as may be specified for the purpose in the directions;

and the Regulator shall send a copy of the directions to the other party.

(7) If, on the submission of a proposed access contract pursuant to subsection (5) above, the Regulator does not consider it appropriate to approve its terms without modification (or to reject it), he may, after consultation with the facility owner and the other party, issue directions to the facility owner—

(a) approving the terms of the proposed access contract, but subject to such modifications as may be specified in the directions; and

(b) requiring the facility owner to enter into the proposed access contract on those terms, as so modified; but

(c) releasing him from his duty to do so if either—

(i) the facility owner gives the Regulator notice of objection before the expiration of the period of fourteen days beginning with the day after that on which the directions are issued; or

(ii) the other party fails to enter into the proposed access contract, on the terms as modified under this subsection, before the date specified for the purpose in the directions;

and the Regulator shall send a copy of the directions to the other party.

(8) In this section, “associate”, “the beneficiary”, “international railway access contract” and “lease” have the same meaning as they have in section 17 above.

(9) The following provisions of section 17 above, that is to say—

(a) subsection (4),

(b) subsection (8)(a) and (b), and

(c) subsection (9),

apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section; and the words following paragraph (b) of subsection (8) of that section apply in relation to subsection (2)(c) of this section as they apply in relation to subsection (2)(c) of that section.

(10) This section shall not prevent a facility owner from granting a lease of any land which consists of or includes the whole or any part of his railway facility.

(11) Any sums required for the making by the Franchising Director of payments in respect of an access contract entered into pursuant to directions under this section shall, if the access contract is one—

(a) to which the Franchising Director is a party, but in relation to which he is not the facility owner, or

(b) under which the Franchising Director is the person by whom an access option is exercisable,

be paid by the Secretary of State out of money provided by Parliament.