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Railways Bill

Asked by Julia BuckleyLabourDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 13 February 2026UIN 110998

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the Railways Bill will ensure that access rights to the network are fair, transparent and enforceable, particularly where Great British Rail will both manage infrastructure and operate services.

Answered by Keir Mather

The new access framework within the Railways Bill will ensure that GBR will determine the best use of the network capacity for all operators in accordance with its statutory duties. New legislation will include key safeguards for third party operators, ensuring that GBR’s decisions on network access are fair and transparent with a strong route of appeal to the ORR. GBR will be required to design and consult with industry on its access and use policy which will set out the processes and criteria on how it will take access and capacity allocation decisions, and on which the ORR will be a statutory consultee.

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