A key obligation for London St. Pancras Highspeed in the concession agreement is the general duty concerning stewardship of the physical HS1 railway infrastructure.
This requires London St. Pancras Highspeed to secure the operation, maintenance, renewal, replacement and planning and carrying out of upgrades in accordance with best practice and in a timely, efficient and economical manner, to the greatest extent reasonably practicable having regard to all the circumstances.
In complying with this stewardship duty, London St. Pancras Highspeed must:
- establish and implement an asset management strategy;
- maintain accurate information about the condition, capability and capacity of its assets; and
- produce and update an asset register.
This register should list all the HS1 network railway infrastructure assets and their condition, including renewal and replacement dates.
London St. Pancras Highspeed must also provide a series of statements setting how it will comply with its stewardship duty. These cover the policies and plans that it will follow for the life of the concession agreement and asset management statements for each control period.
It must also produce annual statements detailing work done in the preceding year and work planned for the following year.
We review these documents and can require London St. Pancras Highspeed to repeat any part which we think does not satisfy its stewardship duty.
We monitor to see if London St. Pancras Highspeed is complying with its obligations generally and with its statements and strategies. If it fails to do so, we can take enforcement action.