§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state, in relation to his decision to open the docklands light railway to an offer of franchise(a) to whom the franchise will revert at the conclusion of the stated period, (b) whether Railtrack will own the railway infrastructure and (c) what is the current ratio between current fare-box takings, including joint ticketing income and annual revenue costs.
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe Docklands Light Railway Limited (DLR Ltd) will let a vertical franchise to the private sector, transferring specific responsibilities in relation to both DLR infrastructure and operations. Reversion will be to DLR Ltd. The Government have no plans to transfer the infrastructure to Railtrack. The current ratio between the current farebox takings, including joint ticketing income, and annual revenue costs is 1:3.4.