Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the timing proposed by the Office of Road and Rail on opening all main Inter City Railway lines to an open-access competition, in the light of the fact that there is no financial measurement of the consequences of such a competition on the East Coast Main Line including the impact on the existing Virgin Trains East Coast franchise.

The Office of Rail and Road’s comments on open access competition were in-line with the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) report on passenger rail services published on 8 March 2016. In their report the CMA did not envisage their options for greater open access competition would come into effect before 2023 at the earliest. The Government responded to the report in a written ministerial statement on 17 March 2016, explaining that we would explore options for potentially implementing the CMA’s recommendations.

The Government is actively considering ‎the CMA's recommendations, in discussion with industry stakeholders. Until this process is further developed, and the options fully considered, the Government is not in a position to provide an assessment of the timing for potential reforms in this area.