EWS objects to "prejudicial" Crossrail proposals
Petition (26 pages, PDF) to the House of Commons by English, Welsh & Scottish Railway Limited against the Crossrail Bill in its current form. EWS objects in particular:
- to the proposed compulsory purchase of a range of freight sites without the provision of alternative facilities, and with "inadequate" compensation for blight;
- to the potential transfer of control over Crossrail infrastructure away from Network Rail; and
- to the proposals in the Bill to amend the Railways Act 1993 by imposing overriding duties on the regulator ORR to facilitate Crossrail, specific rights that protect only the main passenger services, and by allowing the regulation of access rights and agreements under sections 17, 18 and 22 of the Railways Act 1993 to be amended or partially disapplied by ministerial decision.
The petition suggests that the provisions of the Bill are incompatible with the UK's obligations under EC directives on third-party access to railway infrastructure; and that they infringe Article 82 — presumably read in conjunction with Article 86(1) — by giving the Secretary of State, as promoter of Crossrail and sponsor of the main Crossrail passenger train service, the right to abuse his power by directing ORR not to grant requests for infrastructure access submitted by competing operators such as EWS.
For further information or advice please contact Franck Latrémolière.
Filed under DfT, Rail & bus.
