A consultation on the changes we propose to make to Network Rail's track and station access contracts to implement the 2023 periodic review (PR23).
Consultation outcome
15 February 2024
This consultation set out the specific changes we proposed to make to Network Rail’s track and station access contracts to implement the conclusions of the 2023 periodic review (PR23). It was based on the overall proposed decisions that we set out in our draft determination, which we were consulting on separately at the time. The responses we received are set out below; we are grateful to all those who responded.
On 20 December 2023, we issued legal ‘review notices’. These set out the changes the be made to Network Rail’s track and station access contracts on and from 1 April 2024, pending the completion of the implementation process. The changes included in the review notices reflected both our consideration of the points raised by consultees to our consultation on implementing PR23 and also our final decisions on PR23 as set out in our final determination, published on 31 October 2023.
While the review notices gave Network Rail the opportunity to object to the proposed changes, Network Rail has confirmed to us that it does not object. Accordingly, on 12 February 2024, we issued ‘notices of agreement’ to its beneficiaries (its access contract customers) to confirm this. Alongside these notices, we published our conclusions to our consultation on implementing PR23. This explains the final decisions we took, as reflected in our review notices.
31 October 2023 update
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We have published our PR23 final determination, which includes our overall decisions on Network Rail's outputs and funding for control period 7 (2024 to 2029).
We are now working to implement the periodic review and will serve review notices in December 2023. These will reflect the policy conclusions in our final determination and drafting amendments reflecting the responses to the consultation below.
Our conclusions to the consultation below will be published in February 2024.
July 2023 consultation
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This consultation sets out the specific drafting changes we propose to make to Network Rail's track and station access contracts to implement the 2023 periodic review (PR23).
It is based on the overall proposed policy decisions that are set out in our draft determination, which we are consulting separately on.
The consultation contains conclusions to our October 2022 consultation inviting suggestions for improvements to the drafting of Schedules 4, 7 and 8 for model track access contracts.
We have also published marked-up versions of the majority of model access contracts and Traction Electricity Rules which show all the proposed amendments to them.
Publishing your response
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We plan to publish all responses to this consultation on our website.
Should you wish for any information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that this may be subject to publication, or release to other parties or to disclosure, in accordance with the access to information regimes. These regimes are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Under the FOIA, there is a statutory code of practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this, if you are seeking confidentiality for information you are providing, please explain why. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information, we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on ORR.
If you are seeking to make a response in confidence, we would also be grateful if you would annex any confidential information, or provide a non-confidential summary, so that we can publish the non-confidential aspects of your response.
Any personal data you provide to us will be used for the purposes of this consultation and will be handled in accordance with our privacy notice which sets out how we comply with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
Consent
In responding to this consultation you consent to us:
- handling your personal data for the purposes of this consultation;
- publishing your response on our website (unless you have indicated to us that you wish for your response to be treated as confidential as set out above.)
Your consent to either of the above can be withdrawn at any time. Further information about how we handle your personal data and your rights is set out in our privacy notice.
Format of responses
So that we are able to apply web standards to content on our website, we would prefer that you email us your response either in Microsoft Word format or OpenDocument Text (.odt) format. ODT files have a fully open format and do not rely on any specific piece of software.
If you send us a PDF document, please:
- create it directly from an electronic word-processed file using PDF creation software (rather than as a scanned image of a printout); and
- ensure that the PDF's security method is set to no security in the document properties.