British Rail Privatisation (Hansard, 25 February 1992)

§ Mr. Snape

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether it is his intention that the provisions of the citizens charter applicable to British Rail will also apply to private sector rail operators after privatisation of the railway;

(2) how many civil servants he estimates will be required to be employed in regulation of safety, access, fares, franchising and service standards monitoring of the railway system after privatisation; and whether their costs will be met by the Exchequer or the railway customer;

(3) to which authority he intends to give responsibiliy for the safety training of railway staff and for testing in professional competence following the privatisation of British Rail;

(4) what obligations he intends to place on private sector operators taking over parts of British Rail to contribute to the work of the Railway Heritage Trust and to continue and expand the community involvement currently undertaken by British Rail;

(5) how he intends introduction of automatic train protection will be financed following the privatisation of British Rail;

(6) to whom he intends to give responsibility for the maintenance of the bridges, viaducts and other structures on closed branch lines following the privatisation of British Rail;

(7) which company or authority he intends to nominate to take over the 50 per cent. share of channel tunnel capacity contracted jointly to British Rail and French Railways following privatisation of British Rail;

(8) how he intends essential safety expenditure will be financed following the privatisation of British Rail;

(9) what arrangements he intends to make for railway research and development following the privatisation of British Rail;

(10) which authority he intends will represent Britain's railways on the International Union of Railways and the Community of European Railways following the privatisation of British Rail;

(11) how he intends to ensure the co-ordination of the planning and publication of timetables and the provision of train service information to customers throughout Great Britain following the privatisation of British Rail.