Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will work with the Office of Rail and Road to ensure that the proposed new Edinburgh to Berwick train service via Reston and East Linton stations will not be impeded by pathways being allocated to long distance train operating companies.

Decisions on access to the railway are a matter for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). When considering applications for new or additional access to the network by a railway operator the ORR will consult interested parties, including other users of the network and funders, such as the Secretary of State, and take into account their views. In reaching a decision ORR must exercise its functions in a way that it considers best achieves its statutory duties.