§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport which body shall be responsible for surveying any crash, or incident involving damage to track, locomotive or rolling stock, with a view to assisting in the apportioning of costs, charges or damages, following the vesting day of Railtrack.
§ Mr. FreemanRailtrack and train service operators.
§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what form of regulation or arbitration he proposes in order to deal with incident costs when the charges that have been identified and attributed to a company or operator are disputed, following the vesting day of Railtrack.
§ Mr. FreemanThe form of regulation or arbitration to deal with disputes over the attribution of costs after an incident will be a matter for access agreements which will be subject to the approval of the rail regulator.
§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will impose minimum response times on those charged with clearing routes, track or train paths, as well as subsequent safety inspections, in the event of train failure, crash or derailment, following the vesting day of Railtrack.
§ Mr. FreemanThis will be the responsibility of Railtrack, as it now is of British Rail. Any related contractual obligations would be covered in access agreements.