Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what responsibility they have for examining how the costs of heavy rail might be reduced.

Government has a strong interest in reducing the net cost of the railway for the benefit of passengers, freight users and taxpayers, and this has been an important theme of the recent Hendy, Bowe and Shaw reviews.

In respect of infrastructure costs, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has a remit to determine the efficient cost of provision by Network Rail in each five yearly rail control period, which helps to determine the cost of track access charges for Network Rail’s customers – passenger and freight train operators. ORR sets an efficiency target for Network Rail’s operations, maintenance and renewals. Any material increases in expenditure must be agreed with the Department for Transport.

Separately, following the Bowe and Hendy reports, the Department has set in place new oversight arrangements to ensure best value is obtained from proposals to enhance the rail network, as reflected in the recently published Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and Network Rail.

In respect of train operations, the Department seeks to achieve improved value for money through the way it lets and manages contracts for passenger train services.