Passenger Rail Franchising (HC 1354-iii)Transport Committee 19 Jul 2006 |
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Evidence given by Mr Ian Yeowart, Managing Director, Grand Central and Mr Mike Jones, Director, Renaissance Trains, Mr Bill Emery, Chief Executive, Mr Michael Beswick, Director of Rail Policy, Mr Brian Kogan, Deputy Director, Rail Markets, Passengers and Freight, Office of Rail Regulation, and Mr Martin Stanley, Chief Executive, Mr John Banfield, Inquiry Director and Ms Catherine Abbott, Policy Co-ordinator, Competition Commission, Derek Twigg, a Member of the House, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Mr Mark Lambirth, Director of Rail Strategy and Finance Directorate, and Mr Roger Jones, Divisional Manager of Rail Franchise Specification, Department of Transport.
Q345 Mr. Eric Martlew: Just on that point, one that I can see is quite badly served, and it is badly served by Virgin, is the London to Blackpool situation, but on the West Coast mainline and everywhere else there are capacity problems and they are going to be more acute next year and worse the year after. So are the opportunities for open access going to recede as the capacity problems become more acute?
Mr Emery: Certainly the capacity of the system coupled with the definition of the specification for the franchise operators by the Department and a growing market as well do leave little scope, but that is part and parcel of let us look quite clearly as an industry, regulator and Department as to what should be the investment in the railways to meet growth and meet demand, and that is part and parcel of one of the big issues that face the industry as part of the period review coming up, and that is something that needs to be resolved.
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Q403 Mr. Eric Martlew: When are we likely to find out the results of these investigations? [infrastructure improvements]
Derek Twigg: The HLOS will be published next year and the long-term rail strategy, I think, will be at the same time.
Q404 Chairman: When?
Derek Twigg: Alongside it, next year.
Mr Lambirth: June or July 2007.
This is an uncorrected transcript of evidence taken in public and reported to the House. The transcript has been placed on the internet on the authority of the Committee. Neither witnesses nor Members have had the opportunity to correct the record. The transcript is not yet an approved formal record of these proceedings.
| On behalf of Eric Martlew, 3 Chatsworth Square Carlisle Cumbria CA1 1HB |