HC Deb 30 October 2000 vol 355 c308W
Mr. Willis

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will instruct Railtrack to make the necessary infrastructure provision in order to establish a 30-minute service between Harrogate and York. [135073]

Mr. Hill

No. The Secretary of State has no powers to instruct Railtrack. The provision of such infrastructure is a matter in the first instance for Railtrack and the train operating company, Northern Spirit. Condition seven of Railtrack's network licence requires it to maintain, renew, replace, improve, enhance and develop the network to meet the reasonable requirements of train operators and funders. The licence is enforced by the Rail Regulator.

Subsidy may be provided to the train operator through the franchise, and, subject to the Transport Bill currently before Parliament, the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) may procure schemes from Railtrack. To qualify for support a scheme would have to meet the SRA's Planning Criteria.