Chapter Vi - Railways
Sections 196 and 197: The Authority and the Franchising Director
325.Under section 196 the Authority will be able to issue instructions and guidance to the Franchising Director about the management of passenger rail franchises serving London. (Franchised rail services are passenger rail services operated under a franchise agreement between the Franchising Director and a train operating company.) The instructions and guidance can cover services to, from and within Greater London, but the Franchising Director must not follow the guidance where to do so would prevent or seriously hinder him from complying with guidance issued to him by the Secretary of State or have an adverse impact on passenger services outside London or require the Franchising Director to make additional payments to franchise operators from his own budget.
326.Section 197 places the Franchising Director under a duty to consult the Mayor over proposed changes to service levels and fares on London rail services.
327.Section 198 amends LRT’s existing exemption under sections 7 and 20 (licence and facility exemptions) of the Railways Act 1993, to bring TfL, its subsidiaries and PPP companies within its scope. The Railways (London Regional Transport) (Exemptions) Order 1994, under that Act, grants an exemption to every LRT company from the requirement to be authorised by licence to be an operator of a network (or connected light maintenance depot or train) on which it is the exclusive operator. It exempts LRT companies from the access provisions of the Railways Act 1993 in respect of such networks, stations and light maintenance depots. And it also exempts all LRT railway passenger services from designation as eligible for franchising and all LRT services, networks, stations and light maintenance depots from the standard closure provisions.
328.Section 199 enables the Secretary of State to grant a new exemption under sections 7 and 20 of the Railways Act 1993. He may make an exemption order, on the request of LRT or TfL, and in respect of a network on which some or all of the regular scheduled passenger services are operated by LRT or TfL. This allows for the possibility of future integration with the national network under arrangements which might not be covered by the current exemption, which presumes that London Transport and its subsidiaries are the exclusive operators of services using the Underground network.
329.Section 200 ensures that LRT and TfL will have the power to enter into agreements involving the Rail Regulator to meet any need relating to transport in and around London.
330.Section 201 restricts TfL’s ability to enter into direct agreements with franchised train operators so that the Mayor’s instructions and guidance to the Franchising Director will have to include any instructions in respect of additional railway services, and the Franchising Director will then procure the services on behalf of the Mayor.
331.Section 202 provides that, like local authorities across the country, the GLA and TfL will not be able to run franchised railway services on the national network.
Sections 203 to 204: Closures
332.Section 203 places the Franchising Director under a duty to notify the Mayor of any proposal by him to discontinue a passenger rail service affecting Greater London.
333.Section 204 enables the existing procedure for discontinuance (closures) of Underground services, and for those to be operated on Croydon Tramlink or the Docklands Light Railway, to be carried forward. However, it will be the Mayor who takes decisions on closures, rather than the Secretary of State. For TfL services outside London, those aggrieved by a Mayoral decision will have a right of appeal to the Secretary of State.
Sections 205 to 207: Miscellaneous
334.Section 205 amends existing franchise agreements (under which passenger rail services are provided in Great Britain) so that the GLA and TfL are included in the definition of a local authority in such agreements. This puts the GLA and TfL on the same footing as local authorities elsewhere for making arrangements such as concessionary travel schemes.
335.Section 206 places the Secretary of State under a duty to consult the Mayor if the Secretary of State proposes to vary the amount of penalty fares payable on services on the national railway network.
336.Section 207 provides that TfL must not, without the consent of the Secretary of State, enter into agreements with outside contractors for specified “reserved services”, i.e. station- and train-operating functions, as specified in subsection (7). The Secretary of State may by Order (subject to the negative procedure) make exceptions to the restrictions (subsection (5)).
Section 208 : Docklands Light Railway
337.Section 208 passes to the Mayor the Secretary of State’s power to transfer statutory functions of Docklands Light Railway Ltd (the public sector company responsible for DLR) to another person for the purposes of the construction and maintenance of the DLR Lewisham Extension.
Section 209 : Croydon Tramlink
338.Section 209 passes to the Mayor the Secretary of State’s power to transfer statutory functions of LRT to another person for the purposes of the construction and operation of Croydon Tramlink. The amendment also transfers to the Mayor the Secretary of State’s function in respect of determining disputes about the alteration of street levels, and makes provision for complaints about Tramlink to be considered by the London Transport Users’ Committee.
