§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proposals the Rail Regulator has to increase controls on Railtrack. [50669]
§ Dr. StrangLast Autumn the Rail Regulator negotiated changes to Railtrack's network licence which strengthened the company's accountability to the Regulator and increased his enforcement powers. The Regulator has now completed his consultation exercise on Railtrack's recent Network Management Statement. He announced earlier today that, in the light of that consultation, Railtrack has given further commitments to improve network performance and track quality; to address network capacity problems; and to strengthen its processes for meeting the needs of train operators and funders.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures the Rail Regulator proposes to ensure that Railtrack provides value for money over the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. [50670]
§ Dr. StrangThe Rail Regulator has made it clear that he will ring-fence Railtrack's core regulated activity of managing the domestic network and that any diversification by Railtrack Group plc should not impact on the access charges which may be levied by Railtrack plc.