Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of rail freight access and path allocation over the Welwyn Viaduct beyond January 2018; and what discussions he held with rail freight (a) operators and (b) industry groups regarding future freight access over the Welwyn Viaduct before he approved the InterCity East Coast invitation to tender.

The East Coast Main Line franchise was the subject of a full consultation prior to the issue of the Invitation to Tender. The Freight Operating Companies and the Rail Freight Group were included in this consultation and at least two of the Freight Operating Companies responded.

The primary responsibility for the allocation of paths on the rail network rests with Network Rail. However, Network Rail needs to take account not only of the Department's requirements in its franchise specifications but also of existing track access rights held by other train operators, passenger and freight, subject to the ORR's responsibilities as independent regulator.

The Department is represented on the cross-industry planning (the IPG) group that has been established to review future capacity requirements of all operators on the route.