Member

Amendment 19, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, would amend the definition of GBR’s functions in relation to service facilities. The Bill exempts the provision of service facilities for use by other train operators from GBR’s new access regime. These facilities will be things such as maintenance depots, freight terminals and sidings. They are provided in a wider market in which other suppliers may also participate. For that reason, access to these service facilities will continue to be governed by the existing ORR access regime rather than GBR’s new one so that GBR and other providers operate on a level playing field and third parties can gain fair access to these facilities. Consistent with that principle, Clause 3 makes it clear that the provision of these service facilities is not a statutory function of GBR. The Bill therefore already provides the parity of treatment that I believe this amendment is trying to achieve. However, I would be happy to meet the noble Lord if that would be helpful on this subject.