§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the appropriateness of the allocation by Railtrack of train paths between freight and passenger traffic. [59674]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonRailtrack allocate train paths to train operators in accordance with the access rights which the operators hold and with the operators' bids for paths. All track access agreements are subject to approval by the Rail Regulator.
Our White Paper "A New Deal for Transport" (Cmnd 3950) announced that the proposed Strategic Rail Authority would review the capacity of the railway, assess investment needs and identify priorities where operators' aspirations conflict. Pending legislation, the shadow Strategic Rail Authority, to be established next spring, will make a start on this work.