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Railways Act 2005

  • Explanatory Notes Table of contents

Please note:

All reference to 'Parts' and 'sections' are from the Railways Act 2005. For other versions of these Explanatory Notes, see More Resources.

  1. Introduction

  2. Summary and Background

  3. Overview of the Structure

    1. Part 1: Transfer of Functions and Railway Strategy

    2. Part 2: Public Sector Funding Authorities for Railways

    3. Part 3: Rail Passengers' Council and Rail Passengers' Committees

    4. Part 4: Network Modifications etc.

    5. Part 5: Further Miscellaneous Provisions

    6. Part 6: General and Supplemental

  4. Commentary on Sections and Schedules

    1. Part 1: Transfer of Functions and Railway Strategy

      1. Transfer of Functions

        1. Overview

        2. Section 1: Transfer etc. of SRA functions and abolition

        3. Section 2: Transfer of safety functions to the ORR

      2. Railway Strategy

        1. Section 3: General Duties under s.4 of the 1993 Act

        2. Section 4: Use of access charges reviews for application of strategy

        3. Section 5: Railway strategy for Scotland

    2. Part 2: Public Sector Funding Authorities for Railways

      1. Assisting and securing the provision of services

        1. Section 6: Financial assistance etc. from the Secretary of State

        2. Section 7: Notification of assistance from Secretary of State for freight services, Section 9: Notification of assistance from the Scottish Ministers for freight services and Section 11: Notification of assistance from Welsh Assembly for freight services

        3. Section 8: Franchising and financial assistance in relation to Scotland

        4. Section 10: Franchising and financial assistance in relation to Wales

        5. Section 12: Transfer schemes at end of franchising agreements

      2. Passenger Transport Executives

        1. Section 13: Railway functions of Passenger Transport Executives

        2. Section 14: Repeals and savings relating to Passenger Transport Executives

      3. London

        1. Section 15: Duty of Secretary of State and Transport for London to co-operate

        2. Section 16: Relaxation of contractual restrictions on Transport for London

        3. Section 17: Membership of Transport for London

      4. Provision of service by provider of last resort

        1. Section 18: Qualification of duty in respect of services funded by others

    3. Part 3: Rail Passengers' Council and Rail Passengers' Committees

      1. Section 19: The Rail Passengers' Council

      2. Section 20: Delegation of functions by Council

      3. Section 21: Rail Passengers' Committee

    4. Part 4: Network Modifications etc.

      1. Discontinuance of railway passenger services

        1. Section 22: Proposal by operator to discontinue non-franchised services

        2. Section 23: Proposals by funding authority to discontinue non-franchised services

        3. Section 24: Proposals to discontinue franchised or secured services

        4. Section 25: Proposal to discontinue excluded services

      2. Discontinuance of operation of passenger network

        1. Section 26: Proposal by operator to close passenger networks

        2. Section 27: Proposal by funding authority to close passenger network

        3. Section 28: Proposal to discontinue operation of secured network

      3. Discontinuance of use or operation of stations

        1. Section 29: Proposal by operator to close station

        2. Section 30: Proposal by funding authority to close station

        3. Section 31: Proposal to discontinue operation of secured station

      4. References to the ORR

        1. Section 32: References to the ORR

        2. Section 33: Closure requirements

      5. Excluded Proposals

        1. Section 34: Minor modifications

        2. Section 35: Closures eligible to be treated as minor modifications

        3. Section 36: Designation of experimental passenger services

        4. Section 37: Discontinuance of experimental passenger services

        5. Section 38: Services, networks and stations excluded by order

      6. Substitution services

        1. Section 39: Quality contracts schemes in connection with service modifications

        2. Section 40: Substitute road services

      7. Supplemental provisions of Part

        1. Section 41: Proposals by funding authorities

        2. Section 42: Closures guidance

        3. Section 43: Procedure relating to publication and modification of closures guidance

        4. Section 44: Exclusion of liability for breach of statutory duty

        5. Section 45: Interpretation of Part 4

    5. Part 5: Further Miscellaneous Provisions

      1. Conduct and accessibility on railways

        1. Section 46: Bye-laws

        2. Section 47: Power of Scottish Ministers to make penalty fare regulations

        3. Section 48: Code of practice for disabled rail users in Scotland

      2. Railway administration orders for companies providing Scottish services

        1. Section 49: Functions of Scottish Ministers in relation to railway administration

          Section 50: Assistance by Scottish Ministers for companies in railway administration

      3. Duties of co-operation etc.

        1. Section 51: ORR to advise national authorities

        2. Section 52: Duty of Passenger Transport Executives to advise Secretary of State

    6. Part 6: General and Supplemental

      1. General

        1. Section 53: Taxation

        2. Section 54: Further amendments of the 1993 Act

      2. Supplemental

        1. Section 55: Expenses etc.

        2. Section 56: Powers exercisable by statutory instrument

        3. Section 57: Meaning of "Wales-only service" and "Welsh service"

        4. Section 58: General Interpretation

        5. Section 60: Short title, commencement and extent

  5. Commentary on Schedules

    1. Schedules 1 and 2 Background

    2. Schedule 1 - Transfer etc. of functions of the Strategic Rail Authority

    3. Schedule 2: Transfer schemes

    4. Schedule 3: Transfer of safety functions

    5. Schedule 4: Reviews by ORR of access charges and licence conditions

    6. Schedule 5: Rail Passengers' Council established by s.19(1)

    7. Schedule 6: Functions retained by London Transport Users' Committee

    8. Schedule 7: Consultations under Part 4

    9. Schedule 8: Proposals to discontinue excluded London services

    10. Schedule 9: Bye-laws by railway operators

    11. Schedule 10: Taxation provisions relating to transfer schemes

    12. Schedule 11: Miscellaneous amendments of 1993 Act

  6. Territorial Application: Wales (See Also Annex a)

  7. Territorial Extent

  8. Commencement

  9. Hansard References

  10. Annex A

  11. Annex BList of Acronyms

  • Explanatory Notes Table of contents

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Explanatory Notes

Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.

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