Railways Bill

House of Commons

Session 2004 - 05
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Railways Bill

Railways Bill
Schedule 6 — Functions retained by London Transport Users’ Committee
105

(5)
The Committee is not required to investigate a matter in a case falling
within subsection (1)(a) if it appears to the Committee that the
representation is frivolous or vexatious.
(6)
Subsection (2) of section 252A applies for the purposes of this section
as it applies for the purposes of that section.
5
252C
Action on investigation under section 252B
(1)
On investigating a matter under section 252B the Committee must, if
it considers it appropriate to do so—
(a)
in every case, make appropriate representations to the person
providing the service;
10
(b)
in the case of a service provided under a franchise agreement
by a person other than the franchisee, make appropriate
representations to the franchisee; and
(c)
in the case of a secured service (within the meaning of Part 4
of the Railways Act 2005), make appropriate representations
15
to the Secretary of State.
(2)
In subsection (1) ‘appropriate representations’ means
representations about—
(a)
any matter appearing to the Committee to be relevant to the
subject-matter of the investigation; and
20
(b)
any other matter to which a matter so appearing relates.
(3)
Subject to subsection (4), where the Committee—
(a)
having made representations under subsection (1), is of the
opinion that it is unable to obtain a satisfactory resolution by
that means,
25
(b)
on investigating a matter, has reason for believing that the
holder of a licence under Part 1 of the Railways Act 1993 is
contravening a condition of the licence, or is likely to do so, or
(c)
on investigating a matter, has reason for believing that a
franchisee in relation to a franchise agreement is
30
contravening the provisions of the agreement, or is likely to
do so,

the Committee must refer the matter to the Secretary of State (or if he
referred it to the Committee, back to him) with a view to his
exercising such of his powers as he considers appropriate in the
35
circumstances of the case.
(4)
Subsection (3) does not apply in a case where representations under
subsection (2) have been made to the Secretary of State.
(5)
If the Secretary of State considers that it would be more appropriate
for a matter referred to him by the Committee under subsection (3)
40
to be referred to the Office of Rail Regulation, he must—
(a)
refer it to that Office, or
(b)
if it was referred to the Committee by that Office, refer it back
to that Office,

with a view to that Office exercising such of its powers as it considers
45
appropriate in the circumstances of the case.
(6)
The Committee must not—

Railways Bill
Schedule 6 — Functions retained by London Transport Users’ Committee
106

(a)
include a proposal for the taking of any steps in
representations made by it under this section, or
(b)
make a reference under this section to the Secretary of State
by reason only of the failure of a person to take any steps,

unless the test in subsection (7) is satisfied.
5
(7)
That test is satisfied if, on the basis of the information available to the
Committee, it considers that, balancing each of the following against
the other—
(a)
the costs of taking the steps, and
(b)
the benefits that will be enjoyed by persons in consequence of
10
the taking of those steps,

the expenditure involved represents good value for money.
(8)
In this section ‘franchise agreement’ and ‘franchisee’ have the same
meanings as in Part 1 of the Railways Act 1993.
252D
Reports on investigation etc.
15
(1)
Where the Committee investigates a matter under section 252B—
(a)
it may prepare a report of its findings; and
(b)
it must do so if required to do so by the Secretary of State in
relation to any matter falling within section 252B(3) that was
referred to it by him for the purposes of that requirement.
20
(2)
The Committee must not include a proposal for the taking of any
steps in a report prepared by it under this section unless, on the basis
of the information available to it, it considers that, balancing each of
the following against the other—
(a)
the costs of taking those steps, and
25
(b)
the benefits that will be enjoyed by persons in consequence of
the taking of those steps,

the expenditure involved represents good value for money.
(3)
The Committee—
(a)
must send a copy of every report prepared under this section
30
to the Rail Passengers’ Council; and
(b)
may publish the report;

but the Committee may publish a report relating findings on a matter
referred to the Committee by the Secretary of State only if required
to do so by him under this section.
35
(4)
Where—
(a)
the Committee prepares a report relating to a matter referred
to it by the Secretary of State, but
(b)
the report is not a report that the Secretary of State has
required under subsection (1)(b),
40

the Committee must publish the report if it is required to do so by
him.
(5)
The Secretary of State may arrange for the publication of any report
by the Committee the preparation of which he has required under
subsection (1)(b).
45

Railways Bill
Schedule 6 — Functions retained by London Transport Users’ Committee
107

(6)
The publication of a report by the Committee or the Secretary of State
may be in any manner that the Committee or (as the case may be) the
Secretary of State thinks appropriate.
(7)
References in this section to a matter referred to the Committee by
the Secretary of State include references to a matter in relation to
5
which he has required the Committee’s assistance under section
252B(4).”
Power of Secretary of State to exclude matters from duties of LTUC
4     (1)
In that Act, after the section 252D inserted by paragraph 3 of this Schedule
insert—
10
“252E
Power to make exclusions from duties under sections 252A to 252D
(1)
The Secretary of State may by order—
(a)
exclude services from one or more of the duties imposed by
sections 252A to 252D;
(b)
provide that one or more of those duties apply to services of
15
a particular class or description, particular services or
services provided by a particular person only to such extent
as is specified in the order; or
(c)
provide that one or more of those duties apply with specified
modifications in the case of services of a particular class or
20
description, particular services or services provided by a
particular person.
(2)
Before making an order under this section the Secretary of State must
consult the Committee and the Rail Passengers’ Council.
(3)
The power to make exclusions by an order under this section
25
includes—
(a)
power to exclude services of a particular class or description,
particular services or services provided by a particular
person; and
(b)
power to provide that services are excluded subject to
30
compliance with specified conditions.
(4)
An order under this section may not revoke an exclusion except—
(a)
for breach of a condition; or
(b)
in accordance with the order that made it.”
      (2)
In section 420(8) of that Act (orders subject to negative resolution
35
procedure), after “section 242(10)” insert—
“section 252E;”.
Duty of Rail Passengers’ Council to refer matters to the LTUC
5
In section 76 of the 1993 Act (duties of Rail Passengers’ Council), after
subsection (2) insert—
40
“(2A)
If any matter falling within subsection (2)(a) appears to the Rail
Passengers’ Council to relate only to—

Railways Bill
Schedule 7 — Consultations under Part 4
108

(a)
the provision of railway passenger services wholly within the
London railway area (within the meaning of section 252A of
the Greater London Authority Act 1999), or
(b)
the provision of station services within that area,

that Council must refer the matter to the London Transport Users’
5
Committee.”
Schedule 7
Sections 22 to 31

Consultations under Part 4
Introductory
1
A consultation under this Schedule about a proposal—
10
(a)
must be initiated as follows; and
(b)
thereafter must be carried out in accordance with the closures
guidance.
Newspaper notification
2     (1)
The person carrying out the consultation must publish a notice under this
15
paragraph, in two successive weeks—
(a)
in a local newspaper circulating in the area affected by the proposal;
and
(b)
in two national newspapers.
      (2)
The notice must set out—
20
(a)
the proposal date;
(b)
the other particulars of the proposal;
(c)
the address at which—
(i)
the initial assessment, and
(ii)
a summary of the results of that assessment,
25

are available for inspection, or from which a copy of that assessment
and summary may be obtained;
(d)
the fees payable for a copy of the assessment and summary;
(e)
a statement that any representations about the proposal may be sent
to the person carrying out the consultation within such period as
30
may be specified in the notice.
      (3)
In the case of a consultation carried out about a proposal to which section 23,
24, 27, 28, 30 or 31 applies, the proposal date must be not less than six months
after the notice is last published in a local newspaper for the purposes of sub-
paragraph (1).
35
      (4)
The period specified under sub-paragraph (2)(e) must be a period ending no
less than 12 weeks after the notice is last published in a local newspaper for
the purposes of sub-paragraph (1).
Specific notification to particular persons
3     (1)
The person carrying out the consultation must—
40

Railways Bill
Schedule 7 — Consultations under Part 4
109

(a)
send to every person specified in sub-paragraph (2) (apart from
himself) both a copy of every notice published under paragraph 2
and a summary of the results of the initial assessment; and
(b)
in such manner as he considers appropriate, consult such other
persons (if any) as he thinks fit.
5
      (2)
Those persons are—
(a)
in the case of a consultation for the purposes of section 22(7)(a),
25(6)(a), 26(7)(a) or 29(7)(a), the person making the proposal in
question;
(b)
in the case of a consultation for the purposes of—
10
(i)
subsection (4)(b) of section 24,
(ii)
subsection (3)(b) of section 27,
(iii)
subsection (4)(b) of section 28,
(iv)
subsection (3)(b) of section 30, or
(v)
subsection (3)(b) of section 31,
15

the national authority for the purposes of that section;
(c)
if the proposal affects Wales, the National Assembly for Wales;
(d)
if the proposal affects Greater London, the Mayor of London;
(e)
every Passenger Transport Executive whose area is affected by the
proposal;
20
(f)
every local authority in whose area there are persons living, working
or studying who appear to the person carrying out the consultation
to be persons affected by the proposal;
(g)
the Rail Passengers’ Council;
(h)
if the proposal affects its area, the London Transport Users’
25
Committee;
(i)
every person designated by order made by the Secretary of State for
the purposes of this Schedule as a body representing interests of
railway passengers;
(j)
every railway funding authority appearing to the person carrying
30
out the consultation to be a party to financial arrangements that are
or may be affected by the proposal;
(k)
every person providing railway services who appears to the person
carrying out the consultation to be affected by the proposal;
(l)
every person providing station services in relation to a station
35
affected by the proposal.
      (3)
The person carrying out the consultation must require every operator of a
station in the area affected by the proposal to whom he sends a copy of a
notice under sub-paragraph (1) to secure that a copy of it is published by
being displayed at that station until the end of the interim period.
40
      (4)
An order under sub-paragraph (2)(i) is subject to the negative resolution
procedure.
      (5)
In the case of a consultation carried out for the purposes of section 25, sub-
paragraph (2) has effect with the omission of paragraph (j).
      (6)
In this paragraph “local authority”—
45
(a)
in relation to England and Wales, means a county council or county
borough council, a community council or a council for a district in an
area for which there is no county council; and

Railways Bill
Schedule 8 — Proposals to discontinue excluded London services
110

(b)
in relation to Scotland, has the same meaning as in the Local
Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65).
Interpretation of Schedule
4
In this Schedule “the initial assessment” means the assessment relating to the
proposal that has been carried out under section 22(5), 23(5), 24(6), 25(4),
5
26(5), 27(5), 28(5), 29(5), 30(5) or 31(5).
5
In this Schedule “the area affected”, in relation to a proposal, means—
(a)
in the case of a proposal for the discontinuance of railway passenger
services on a particular line or from a particular station, the area in
which the line or station is situated;
10
(b)
in the case of a proposal relating to a network, or part of a network,
the area in which the network, or part of a network, is situated;
(c)
in the case of a proposal relating to a station, or part of a station, the
area served by the station, or that part.
6     (1)
A newspaper is to be regarded as a national newspaper for the purposes of
15
paragraph 2(1)(b) as it applies in relation to a proposal if—
(a)
it is a newspaper circulating generally in the United Kingdom; or
(b)
the proposal relates to services operating, or a network or station, or
part of a network or station that is—
(i)
entirely in England,
20
(ii)
entirely in Wales, or
(iii)
entirely in Scotland,

and it is a newspaper circulating generally in England, Wales or (as
the case may be) Scotland.
      (2)
For the purposes of this paragraph, a service operates entirely in England,
25
entirely in Wales or entirely in Scotland if it begins and ends in, and does not
make any other scheduled call outside, England, Wales or (as the case may
be) Scotland.
Schedule 8
Section 25

Proposals to discontinue excluded London services
30
Introductory
1     (1)
This Schedule applies, where a proposal for the discontinuance of all the
excluded London services provided on a particular line, or from a particular
station, is made by the person providing them (“the service operator”), to so
much of the proposal as relates to excluded London services which are
35
special procedure excluded services.
      (2)
In this Schedule “excluded London service” and “special procedure
excluded services” have the same meanings as in section 25.
Notice of proposal
2     (1)
The service operator—
40
(a)
must give notice in the required manner of his proposal; and

Railways Bill
Schedule 8 — Proposals to discontinue excluded London services
111

(b)
must not give effect to the closure before the end of the period
specified in the notice for the making of objections to the London
Transport Users’ Committee.
      (2)
The notice must set out—
(a)
the proposal date;
5
(b)
the other particulars of the proposal;
(c)
particulars of alternative services which it appears to the service
operator will be available;
(d)
any proposal of the service operator for providing or augmenting the
alternative services;
10
(e)
a statement that any objections about the proposal may be sent to the
London Transport Users’ Committee on or before the proposal date.
      (3)
The proposal date must be not less than six weeks after the notice is last
published in a local newspaper for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4).
      (4)
A notice under this paragraph is published in the required manner if it is
15
published, in two successive weeks—
(a)
in a local newspaper circulating in the area affected by the proposal;
(b)
in two newspapers circulating generally in England (or in England
and any other part of the United Kingdom); and
(c)
in such other manner as appears to the person giving the notice to be
20
appropriate.
      (5)
The service operator must send a copy of every notice published under this
paragraph—
(a)
to the London Transport Users’ Committee; and
(b)
to every person who is the operator of a station within the area
25
affected by the proposal;

and must require every such operator to publish the notice by displaying it
at the stations he operates in that area.
      (6)
In this paragraph a reference to the area affected by the proposal is a
reference to the area in which is situated the line or station referred to in
30
paragraph 1(1).
Objections etc.
3     (1)
Where a notice has been published under paragraph 2 objections about the
proposal may be made to the London Transport Users’ Committee—
(a)
by any user of a service to which the proposal relates; or
35
(b)
by any person representing such users.
      (2)
Objections may only be made within the period specified in the notice.
Consideration of objections and report to Mayor of London
4     (1)
This paragraph applies where any objection is made under paragraph 3.
      (2)
The London Transport Users’ Committee must immediately inform—
40
(a)
the Mayor of London, and
(b)
the service operator,

about the objection.