Background
44.The post of Rail Regulator was created as part of the privatisation of the railways, with his functions defined in the Railways Act 1993, as amended by the Transport Act 2000. This part of the Act, together with Schedules 1, 2 and 3, replaces the Rail Regulator with a corporate body established along board lines, called the Office of Rail Regulation. The Office assumes all of the existing functions of the Regulator.
45.The Secretary of State for Transport announced the decision to introduce a regulatory board structure for rail regulation on 12 June 2002. This move is consistent with the recommendations of the Better Regulation Task Force report on economic regulators (July 2001), and follows what has been done or is in the process of being done for other regulators. A public consultation document entitled “Creating a Regulatory Board for Railways” was subsequently issued.