Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the level of public investment in rail on the level of freight access charges.

Setting the framework for track access charges is a matter for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). ORR is currently working with the industry to review the structure of charges for CP6 (from 2019) as part of their Periodic Review 2018 process.

As part of the Government’s Rail Freight Strategy, the Department for Transport will continue to support ORR's work to develop appropriate track access charges for freight from CP6, including by understanding the effect of the level of public investment in rail and overall impacts on the rail freight industry of any changes.