HC Deb 25 June 2002 vol 387 cc769-70W
Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what(a) discussions he has had and (b) representations he has received from the railway industry on the railway byelaws since June 2001; and if he will make a statement; [64139]

(2) what assessment of the railway byelaws has been made by his Department; what plans there are to update these byelaws; and if he will make a statement. [64140]

Mr. Jamieson

After several years of assessment and development of the byelaws made by the British Railways Board, the national railway operators made new byelaws using a common framework set. The Secretary of State confirmed these byelaws on 19 December 2000 and they came into operation on 18 February 2001. There are no plans to update them.

Union Railways (North) Limited, Union Railways (South) Limited and Hull Trains Limited have written to the Department about their proposals for making byelaws based on the framework set. GNER, Arriva Trains Merseyside and Thameslink have also made inquiries regarding the interpretation and application of their current byelaws.