Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their Great British Railway white paper (CP423), published on 20 May, what role they see for private sector open access operators in the new structure for the passenger railway; and who will decide (1) whether such operators will be permitted, (2) the timetable to which they will operate, and (3) the fares they can charge.

Establishing Great British Railways will enable open access operators to benefit from national co-ordination and new safeguards.

The government will consult and work with partners, including open access operators, on the development and implementation of a new rules-based access system, underpinned by legislation.

The Office of Rail and Road will also act as an appeals body for operators. It will be able to direct Great British Railways to change its decision where it has not applied its track access and charging policies fairly.

New and existing open access services will be able to operate in the future. As now they will be able to apply for train paths and set their own fares.

We will make an announcement on next steps in relation to how GBR manages the infrastructure including the processes it will undertake when making access decisions in due course.