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The Railways Infrastructure (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

Type Ni-Statutory-Rule

Publication 2016-12-01

Last updated 2020-12-31

State In force

Jurisdiction Northern Ireland

Department Government Printer for Northern Ireland

Source legislation.gov.uk

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Made: 1st December 2016

Coming into operation: 23rd January 2017

The Department for Infrastructure , being a Department designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act in relation to measures relating to railways and railway transport, in exercise of the powers conferred by that section, and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

PART 1 — PRELIMINARY

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Railways Infrastructure (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 and shall come into operation on 23rd January 2017.

2

(1) In these Regulations—

“the 1995 Directive” means Council Directive 95/18/EC dated 19 June 1995 on the licensing of railway undertakings as amended by Directive 2001/13/EC dated 26 February 2001 and Directive 2004/49 dated 29 April 2004, both of the European Parliament and of the Council;

“access rights” means rights of access to railway infrastructure for the purpose of operating a service for the transport of goods or passengers;

“ad hoc request” means a request for individual train paths made other than in accordance with the timetable for the capacity allocation process as set out in Schedule 3;

“allocation” means the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity by an infrastructure manager;

“allocation body” means a body or undertaking, other than the infrastructure manager, which is responsible, by virtue of regulation 19(3), for the functions and obligations of the infrastructure manager under Part 5 and Schedule 3;

“applicant” means a railway undertaking or an international grouping of railway undertakings or other persons or legal entities, such as competent authorities under Regulation No. 1370/2007 and shippers, freight forwarders and combined transport operators, with a public service or commercial interest in procuring infrastructure capacity;

“capacity enhancement plan” means a measure or series of measures with a calendar for their implementation which aim to alleviate the capacity constraints which led to the declaration of an element of infrastructure as congested infrastructure;

“charging body” means a body or undertaking, other than the infrastructure manager, which is responsible, by virtue of regulation 14(6), for the functions and obligations of the infrastructure manager under Part 4 and Schedule 2;

“charging scheme” means the specific charging rules established in accordance with regulation 14 by the Office of Rail and Road or the infrastructure manager; governing the determination of access charges as set out in Part 4;

“competent authority” has the same meaning as in Article 2 of Regulation No. 1370/2007;

“cross-border agreement” means any agreement between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland intended to facilitate the provision of cross-border rail services;

“the Department” means the Department for Infrastructure;

“development”, in relation to railway infrastructure, means network planning, financial and investment planning as well as the building and upgrading of the infrastructure;

“the Directive” means Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21st November 2012 establishing a single European railway area (recast), as amended from time to time, before and after exit day;

“the environment” means all or any of the following media, namely the air, water and land (and the medium of air includes the air within buildings and the air within other natural or man-made structures above or below ground);

“essential functions”, in relation to infrastructure management, means decision-making concerning—train path allocation, including both the definition and the assessment of availability and the allocation of individual train paths, andinfrastructure charging, including determination and collection of charges, in accordance with the charging framework and the capacity allocation framework established pursuant to regulations 14 and 19 respectively;

“European licence” means a licence granted to a railway undertaking pursuant to these regulations by which the capacity of the railway undertaking as such is recognised and which authorises the undertaking to provide such train services as may be specified in the licence;

“framework agreement” means a legally binding general agreement under public or private law, setting out the rights and obligations of an applicant and the infrastructure manager in relation to the infrastructure capacity to be allocated and the charges to be levied over a period in excess of one working timetable period;

“infrastructure capacity” means the potential to schedule train paths requested for an element of infrastructure for a certain period;

“infrastructure manager” means any body or undertaking that is responsible in particular for establishing and maintaining railway infrastructure;

“international freight service” means a transport service where the train crosses the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; the train may be joined or split (or joined and split) and the different sections may have different origins and destinations provided that all wagons cross the border;

“international grouping” means any association of at least two railway undertakings, at least one of which is established in the United Kingdom for the purpose of providing international transport and at least one of which is established in the Republic of Ireland for that purpose;

“international passenger service” means a passenger service where the train crosses the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and where the principal purpose of the service is to carry passengers between stations located in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; the train may be joined or split (or joined and split) and the different sections may have different origins and destinations provided all the carriages cross the border;

“maintenance”, in relation to railway infrastructure, means works intended to maintain the condition and capability of the existing infrastructure;

“management board” means the senior body of an undertaking performing executive and administrative functions, which is responsible and accountable for day-to-day management of the undertaking;

“network” means the entire railway infrastructure managed by an infrastructure manager;

“network statement” means the statement required to be prepared and published under regulation 13;

“Northern Ireland Department” means a department listed in Schedule 1 to the the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016;

“the Office of Rail and Road” means the body established under section 15 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 ;

“operation”, in relation to railway infrastructure, means train path allocation, traffic management and infrastructure charging;

“public passenger transport” and “public service operator” have the same meanings as in Article 2 of Regulation EC No. 1370/2007;

“public service contract” means one or more legally binding acts confirming the agreement between a competent authority and a public service operator to entrust to that public service operator the management and operation of public passenger transport services subject to public service obligations; the contract may also consist of a decision adopted by the competent authority—taking the form of an individual legislative or regulatory act, orcontaining conditions under which the competent authority itself provides the services or entrusts the provision of such services to an internal operator,and for the purposes of this definition “competent authority” means any public authority or group of public authorities of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which has the power to intervene in public passenger transport in a given geographical area or any body vested with such authority, “competent local authority” means any competent authority whose geographical area of competence is not national and “internal operator” means a legally distinct entity over which a competent local authority, or in the case of a group of authorities at least one competent local authority, exercises control similar to that exercised over its own departments and “public service obligation” has the same meaning as in Regulation EC No. 1370/2007;

“public-private partnership” means a binding arrangement between public bodies and one or more undertakings other than the main infrastructure manager, under which the undertakings—partially or totally construct or fund railway infrastructure; oracquire the right to exercise any of the functions of the infrastructure manager for a predefined period of time;

“railway infrastructure” means all the items listed in Annex 1 to the Directive;

“railway service performance” includes, in particular, performance in securing each of the following in relation to railway services—reliability (including punctuality);the avoidance or mitigation of passenger overcrowding; andthat journey times are as short as possible;

“railway undertaking” means any public or private undertaking licensed according to the Directive;

“reasonable profit” means a rate of return on own capital that takes account of the risk, including that to revenue, or the absence of such risk, incurred by the operator of the service facility and is in line with the average rate for the sector concerned in recent years;

“regional services” means transport services whose principal purpose is to meet the transport needs of a region, including a cross-border region;

“Regulation EC No. 1370/2007” means Regulation 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23rd October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and road and by repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No. 1191/69 and 1107/70 ;

“Regulation No. 913/2010” means regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22nd September 2010 concerning a European rail network for competitive freight ;

“renewal”, in relation to railway infrastructure, means major substitution works on the existing infrastructure which do not change its overall performance

“SNRP” means a statement of national regulatory provisions, issued under regulation 46;

“service provider” means a body or undertaking that supplies any of the services—to which access is granted by virtue of regulation 5; orlisted in paragraph, 2, 3 or 4 of Schedule 1;or which manages a service facility used for this supply, whether or not that body or undertaking is also an infrastructure manager;

“supervisory board” means the most senior body of an undertaking that fulfils supervisory tasks, including the exercise of control over the management board and general strategic decisions regarding the undertaking;

“the Treaty” means the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ;

“train path” means the infrastructure capacity needed to run a train between two places over a given period;

“train service” means a service for the transport of goods or passengers (or both) by rail;

“transit rights” means rights of transit through Northern Ireland using its railway infrastructure;

“upgrade” in relation to railway infrastructure, means major modification works to the infrastructure which improve its overall performance;

“urban” or “suburban” means, in relation to a transport service, a service whose principal purpose is to meet the transport needs of an urban centre or conurbation, including a cross-border conurbation, together with transport needs between such a centre or conurbation and surrounding areas;

“vertically integrated undertaking” means an undertaking where, within the meaning of Council Regulation (EC) No. 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (the EC Merger Regulation)—an infrastructure manager is controlled by an undertaking which at the same time controls one or several railway undertakings that operate rail services on the infrastructure manager’s network;an infrastructure manager is controlled by one or several railway undertakings that operate rail services on the infrastructure manager’s network; orone or several railway undertakings that operate rail services on the infrastructure manager’s network are controlled by an infrastructure manager,and includes an undertaking consisting of distinct divisions, including an infrastructure manager and one or several divisions providing transport services that do not have a distinct legal personality. Where an infrastructure manager and a railway undertaking are fully independent of each other, but both are controlled directly by a Member State without an intermediary entity, they are not considered to constitute a vertically integrated undertaking for the purposes of these Regulations

“viable alternative” means access to another service facility which is economically acceptable to the railway undertaking, and allows it to operated the freight or passenger services concerned;

“working day” means any day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday;

“working timetable period” means the calendar year commencing at midnight on the second Saturday in December.

(2) Except where a definition in paragraph (1) applies, expressions used in these regulations and in the Council Directives have the meanings given by the Directives.

(3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to these regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Scope

3

(1) These regulations apply to domestic and international rail traffic.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (6), Parts 2 and 3 (save for regulation 13), regulations 14(6) and (7), 15, 19(3), 33 and Schedule 1 lay down the rules applicable to–

(i) the management of railway infrastructure;

(ii) the rail transport activities of railway undertakings ; and

(iii) the licensing of railway undertakings and groupings in respect of international services and international combined transport goods services which they operate.

(3) The provisions referred to in paragraph (2) do not apply to railway undertakings whose activity is limited to the provision of solely urban, suburban or regional services on local and regional stand-alone networks for transport services on railway infrastructure or on networks intended only for the operation of urban or suburban rail services.

(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), the following regulations apply where a railway undertaking referred to in that paragraph is under the direct or indirect control of an undertaking or another entity performing or integrating rail transport services other than urban, suburban or regional services—

(a) regulation 8;

(b) regulation 9, with regard to the relationship between the railway undertaking and the undertaking or entity which controls it, directly or indirectly; and

(5) Subject to paragraphs (6) and (7),regulation 13, Parts 4 to 6 and Schedules 2, 3 and 5, lay down the principles and procedures applicable to–

(a) the setting and collection of railway infrastructure charges; and

(b) the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity.

(a) The provisions of—

(i) regulation 5;

(ii) regulation 10;

(iii) regulation 13; and

(iv) Parts 4 to 6

do not apply to the networks listed in paragraph (7);

(b) the provisions of—

(i) regulation 11;

(ii) regulation 12(1), (2) and (3); and

(iii) regulation 15(1)

also do not apply to the networks listed in paragraph (7) and do not apply to the lines described in paragraph (7A); and

(i) regulation 8A;

(ii) regulation 8B;

(iii) regulation 8C;

(iv) regulation 9A;

(v) regulation 14(6), (6A) and (7); and

(vi) regulation 19(3) and (3A),

also do not apply to the networks listed in paragraph (7) and the lines described in paragraph (7A) and do not apply to the regional, low traffic networks described in paragraph (7B).

(7) The networks referred to in paragraph (6) are–

(a) local and regional stand-alone networks for passenger services on railway infrastructure;

(b) networks intended only for the operation of urban or suburban rail passenger services;

(c) until such time as capacity is requested by another applicant, regional networks used for regional freight services solely by a railway undertaking referred to in paragraph (3); or

(d) privately owned railway infrastructure that exists solely for use by the infrastructure manager for its own freight operations.

(7A) The lines referred to in paragraph (6)(b) and (c) are local, low traffic lines of a length not exceeding 100km that are used for freight traffic between a mainline and points of origin and destination of shipments along those lines, provided that those lines are managed by entities other than the main infrastructure manager and that either—

(a) those lines are used by a single freight operator, or

(b) the essential functions in relation to those lines are performed by a body which is not controlled by any railway undertaking.

(7B) The regional, low traffic networks referred to in paragraph (6)(d) are regional, low traffic networks managed by an entity other than the main infrastructure manager and used for the operation of regional passenger services provided by a single railway undertaking where—

(a) capacity for passenger services on that network has not been requested, and

(b) the single railway undertaking is independent of any railway undertaking operating freight services.

(7C) The lines described in paragraph (7A) include those that are used also, to a limited extent, for passenger services and the regional, low traffic networks described in paragraph (7B) included those where the line is used also, to a limited extent, for freight services.

(7D) Where a railway undertaking is party to a public-private partnership concluded before 16th June 2015 and is responsible for providing passenger railway services on the infrastructure, the provisions of—

(a) regulation 8A;

(b) regulation 9A;

(d) regulation 19(3) and (3A)

do not apply to the railway undertaking.

PART 2 — ACCESS TO RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES

Access and transit rights

4

(1) A railway undertaking is entitled, on equitable, non-discriminatory and transparent conditions, access rights to such railway infrastructure as may be necessary for the purpose of operating all types of rail freight or ... passenger services.

(2) An international grouping which includes a railway undertaking established in Northern Ireland, for the purpose of operating all types of rail freight or international passenger services, is entitled to such access or transit rights as may be necessary for the provision of international transport services between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

(3) The access rights described in paragraph (1) include access to railway infrastructure connecting the service facilities referred to in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1.

(4) The access rights described in paragraph (1) for the purposes of operating rail freight services include the right of access to railway infrastructure serving, or potentially serving, more than one final customer.

(5) The access rights of a railway undertaking for the purposes of the operation of a passenger service include the right to pick up passengers at any station located on the route and set them down at another....

(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(7) The Office of Rail and Road may, in accordance with regulation 33, limit the rights granted by this regulation to passenger services between a place of departure and a destination where one or more public service contracts cover the same route or an alternative route if the exercise of any such right would compromise the economic equilibrium of the public service contract or contracts in question.

(8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(9) It is the duty of the infrastructure manager to ensure that the entitlements conferred by this regulation are honoured.

(10) Without prejudice to the generality of regulation 32, if a railway undertaking is denied the entitlements conferred on it by this regulation other than pursuant to a decision of the Office of Rail and Road under paragraph (7) and regulation 33 that railway undertaking has a right of appeal to the Office of Rail and Road in accordance with regulation 32.

Access to services

5

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), all railway undertakings are entitled to services comprising—

(a) the minimum access package; and

(b) the track access to service facilities and the supply of services,

described in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 1.

(2) The services described in paragraph (1) must be supplied by the infrastructure manager or, as the case may be, service provider in an equitable, non-discriminatory and transparent manner.

(3) Requests by railway undertakings for access to, and the supply of, services described in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 must be answered within a reasonable time limit as stipulated by the Office of Rail and Road.

(4) Subject to paragraph (7), where an infrastructure manager or a service provider supplies any of the services described in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1, a request for access to and supply of such services may only be refused if a viable alternative exists which would enable the railway undertaking to operate the freight or passenger service concerned on the same or an alternative route under economically acceptable conditions.

(5) Where—

(a) a request referred to in paragraph (3) concerns access to and supply of services described in sub-paragraphs 2(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of Schedule 1; and

(b) such request is made to a service provider which is under the direct or indirect control of a dominant body or firm,

the infrastructure manager or service provider must justify, in writing, any decision to refuse such a request, and provide information about the viable alternative described in paragraph (4).

(6) Paragraph (4) does not oblige the infrastructure manager or service provider to make investments in resources or facilities in order to accommodate all requests by railway undertakings.

(7) Where the infrastructure manager or service provider of services referred to in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1, encounters a conflict between different requests, it must attempt to meet all requests in so far as possible. If no viable alternative is available, and it is not possible to accommodate all requests for capacity for the relevant facility on the basis of demonstrated need, the applicant may complain to the Office of Rail and Road.

(8) Where a service facility described in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 has not been in use for at least two consecutive years and interest by a railway undertaking for access to this facility has been expressed to the service provider on the basis of demonstrated need, the service provider must—

(a) offer the operation of the service facility, or part of it, for lease as a rail service facility; and

(b) publicise this offer.

(9) Paragraph (8) does not apply if the service provider can demonstrate that ongoing redevelopment work reasonably prevents the use of the service facility by any railway undertaking.

(10) Where the infrastructure manager or service provider offers to supply any of the services described in paragraph 3 of Schedule 1, as an additional service he must, in response to a request from an applicant, supply the services to that applicant in a non-discriminatory manner

(11) An applicant may request the supply of any of the services described in paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 from an infrastructure manager or service provider but that infrastructure manager or service provider is under no obligation to supply the services requested. Where the infrastructure manager or service provider does offer to supply such services, it must do so in a non-discriminatory manner.

(12) Without prejudice to the generality of regulation 32, if an applicant is denied the entitlements conferred on it by this regulation, that applicant has a right of appeal to the Office of Rail and Road in accordance with regulation 32.

(13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Access to training facilities

6

(1) Railway undertakings applying for a safety certificate in accordance with Part 2 of the Railways (Safety Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 shall be entitled to a fair and non-discriminatory access to training facilities for train drivers and staff accompanying the trains, whenever such training is necessary for the fulfilment of requirements to obtain that certificate.

(2) The services offered under paragraph (1) must include training on—

(a) necessary route knowledge;

(b) operating rules and procedures

(d) emergency procedures,

in respect of the routes operated.

(3) The infrastructure manager, and any of his staff with responsibility for safety critical tasks, must have a fair and non-discriminatory access to the services listed in paragraph (2).

(4) It is the responsibility of the Department to ensure that the provision of training services meets the safety requirements laid down in the National Safety Rules.

(5) If the training facilities to which access is granted by virtue of this regulation are available only through the services of one single railway undertaking, or the infrastructure manager, the Department must ensure that those facilities and services are available to applicants at a reasonable and non-discriminatory price, which is cost-related and may include a profit margin.

(6) Railway undertakings recruiting new train drivers, on-board staff, or staff with responsibility for safety critical tasks must take into account any training, qualifications and experience acquired by job-applicants from any previous employment with another railway undertaking.

(7) The staff described in paragraph (6) must be granted access to all documents attesting to their training, qualifications and experience, and be entitled to have copies of such documentation.

(8) It is the responsibility of each railway undertaking and infrastructure manager to provide the appropriate level of training and qualification of staff set out in national safety rules and Annex III to Council Directive 2004/49/EC.

(9) For the purposes of this regulation—

(a) “national safety rules” means any legislation and other requirements—

(i) applicable to Northern Ireland; and

(ii) which contain requirements (including common operating rules) relating to railway safety,

except that where the requirements in paragraph (9)(a)(i) consist of common operating rules of the railway it shall not include such rules which regulate matters which are covered by a technical specification for interoperability; and

(b) “safety critical task” means—

(i) in relation to vehicle used on a railway—

(aa) driving, despatching or any other activity which is capable of controlling or affecting the movement of that vehicle;

(bb) signalling, and signalling operations, the operation of level crossing equipment, receiving and relaying of communications or any other activity which is capable of controlling or affecting the movement of that vehicle;

(cc) coupling or uncoupling;

(dd) installation of components;

(ee) maintenance; or

(ff) checking that that vehicle is working properly and, where carrying goods, is correctly loaded before being used;

(ii) in relation to a railway—

(aa) installation or maintenance of any part of it or of the telecommunications system relating to it or used in conjunction with it, or of the means of supplying electricity directly to that transport system or to any vehicles using it or to the telecommunications system;

(bb) controlling the supply of electricity directly to it or to any vehicles used on it; or

(cc) receiving and relaying of communications;

(iii) in relation to ensuring worker safety on a railway, any person ensuring the safety of any persons working on or near the track, whether or not the persons working on or near the track are carrying out safety critical work; and

(iv) in relation to training, any practical training or the supervision of any practical training in any of the tasks set out in sub-paragraphs (i) to (ii),

which could significantly affect the health or safety of persons on a railway.

(10) An applicant denied access to training facilities contrary to the provisions of this regulation shall have a right of appeal to the Department in accordance with regulation 32(3).

(11) For the purposes of this regulation the provisions of regulation 32(3) shall apply to the Department as the appellant authority.

Cross-border agreements

7

(1) The Department must ensure that provisions contained in cross-border agreements do not discriminate between railway undertakings, or restrict their freedom to operate cross-border services.

(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PART 3 — INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT

Management independence

8

(1) Railway undertakings which are directly or indirectly controlled by a Northern Ireland Department must, in their management, administration and internal control over administrative, economic and accounting matters, maintain the status of an independent operator and hold, in particular, assets, budgets and accounts which are separate from those of that Northern Ireland Department.

(2) Subject to the requirements set out in Parts 4 and 5 and Schedules 2 and 3 about the determination of infrastructure charges and the allocation of infrastructure capacity an infrastructure manager must be responsible for its own management, administration and internal control.

Separation of accounts

9

(1) Any body which incorporates the functions of both infrastructure manager and railway undertaking must—

(a) prepare and publish separate profit and loss accounts and balance sheets in respect of business relating to the—

(i) provision of transport services as a railway undertaking; and

(ii) management of railway infrastructure; and

(b) ensure that public funds granted to such a body is not transferred between that part of the body responsible for the provision of transport services and that responsible for management of railway infrastructure.

(2) Any body which conducts business activities relating to the provision of both rail freight transport services and passenger transport services must—

(a) prepare and publish separate profit and loss accounts and balance sheets in respect of each of these business activities;

(b) account separately for public funds granted for activities relating to the provision of transport services as public service remits in accordance with Article 7 of (EC) Regulation No 1370/2007; and

(c) ensure that public funds granted as described in sub-paragraph (b) are not transferred to activities relating to the provision of other transport services, or any other business.

(3) Accounts for the areas of activity described in paragraphs (1) and (2) must be kept in such a way as to allow for monitoring of—

(a) the prohibition set out in those paragraphs relating to the transfer of public funds; and

(b) the use of income from infrastructure charges and surpluses from other commercial activities.

(4) Where infrastructure charging and path allocation functions are performed by a charging body and an allocation body by virtue of regulations 14(6) and 19(3) respectively, the undertaking must be organised in distinct divisions that do not have a separate legal form within a single undertaking.

(4) The monitoring of the observance of public service obligations, where stipulated in the terms of a contract required by regulation 19(11), must be carried out by the Department.

Independence of service providers from dominant bodies and firms

10

(1) Where the service provider of a service described in paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 is under direct or indirect control of a dominant body or firm, it must hold separate accounts from that body or firm, including separate balance sheets and profit and loss accounts.

(2) Where the service provider of a service described in sub-paragraphs (a) – (f) of paragraph 2 of Schedule 1, is under direct or indirect control of a dominant body or firm, it must be independent in organisational and decision making terms from that body or firm.

(3) Paragraph (2) does not require the establishment of a separate legal entity to provide such services, and may be fulfilled by the formation of distinct divisions within a single legal entity.

(4) Where any of the services referred to in paragraph (2) are provided, and the operation of the service facility is ensured by either—

(a) an infrastructure manager, or

(b) a service provider under the direct or indirect control of an infrastructure manager,

the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) are met if regulations 14(6) and 19(3) are complied with.

Indicative railway infrastructure strategy

11

(1) The Department must, by 19th December 2019 and after consultation with interested parties, publish an indicative railway infrastructure strategy for Northern Ireland which must—

(a) be drafted with a view to meeting future mobility needs in terms of the maintenance, renewal and development needs of the railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland;

(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(2) The strategy referred to in paragraph (1) must—

(a) be in respect of such period as the Department must determine, and

(b) be renewed following this period, in respect of successive periods of time, the length and commencement of which the Department must determine.

(3) The strategy described in paragraph (1) is to be known as the indicative railway infrastructure strategy for Northern Ireland.

Business Plans

12

(1) The infrastructure manager must draw up a business plan which is designed for the purpose of ensuring—

(a) optimal and efficient use and development of the infrastructure; and

(b) financial balance.

(2) The plan referred to in paragraph (1) must —

(a) include details of investment and financial programmes;

(b) provide the means by which the objectives set out in that paragraph are to be achieved; and

(3) Before it is approved, the infrastructure manager must ensure that applicants known to it and, upon their request, potential applicants, have access to the relevant information and are given the opportunity to express their views on the content of the draft business plan regarding the conditions for access and use, and the nature, provision and development of the infrastructure.

(4) Each railway undertaking must draw up a business plan, which must include their investment and financing programmes, and which is designed for the purpose of ensuring—

(a) financial equilibrium; and

(b) other technical, commercial and financial management objectives.

(5) The plan referred to in paragraph (4) must provide the means by which the objectives set out in that paragraph are to be achieved.

(6) The Office of Rail and Road shall, at least once a year, request confirmation that a business plan has been produced in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (4) and each infrastructure manager or, as the case may be, railway undertaking, to whom such a request is made shall be under an obligation to comply with that request.

(7) For the purposes of regulation 36, a request by the Office of Rail and Road in accordance with paragraph (6) is to be treated as a request for information.

Network Statement

13

(1) The infrastructure manager must, following consultation with all interested parties, develop and publish a network statement containing the information described in paragraph (4).

(2) Where, by virtue of regulations 14(6) or 19(3) a charging body or, as the case may be, allocation body is responsible for the functions of the infrastructure manager in Parts 4 or 5, that charging body or allocation body must provide the infrastructure manager with such information as is necessary to enable that infrastructure manager to—

(a) include the information described in paragraph (4) in the network statement; and

(b) keep the network statement up to date in accordance with paragraph (7).

(3) A service provider who is not the infrastructure manager must provide the infrastructure manager of the infrastructure to which the relevant service facility is connected, with such information as is necessary to enable that infrastructure manager to—

(a) include the information described in paragraph (4)(b) and, where applicable, (d) in the network statement; and

(b) keep the network statement up to date in accordance with paragraph (7).

(4) The information referred to in paragraph (1) is—

(a) a section setting out the nature of the railway infrastructure which is available to applicants and the conditions of access to it;

(b) details as to where further information may be obtained about the nature of the track access to, and supply of services in, any of the service facilities to which access may be obtained pursuant to regulation 5;

(c) a description of the charging principles and tariffs, including appropriate details of the charging scheme, framework, methodology, rules and, where applicable, scales used in relation to the application of regulations 14, 16 and 18 and Schedule 2;

(d) information on charges for gaining access to and supply of service facilities listed in Schedule 1, including those which are provided by only one supplier, and including information on technical access conditions, or details of a website where such information is available free of charge in electronic format;

(e) the list of market segments to be published under paragraph 2(7) of Schedule 2, subject to any amendments made by the Office of Rail and Road;

(f) information relating to the performance scheme referred to in regulation 16;

(g) details for the supply of those services listed in Schedule 1 which are provided by only one supplier;

(h) a description of the principles and criteria for the allocation of infrastructure capacity, setting out the general capacity characteristics of the infrastructure available and any restrictions on its use, including likely capacity requirements for maintenance;

(i) information about procedures for dispute resolution and appeal relating to matters of access to rail infrastructure and services.

(j) the procedures and deadlines in the capacity allocation process and specific criteria employed in that process, in particular—

(i) the procedures according to which applicants may request infrastructure capacity from the infrastructure manager;

(ii) the information to be provided by applicants;

(iii) the timetable for the application and allocation process;

(iv) the principles governing the co-ordination process, in particular the arrangement of international train paths, and the effect the modification of such paths might have on other infrastructure managers;

(v) the dispute resolution procedure established in accordance with regulation 23(7);

(vi) details of any section of railway infrastructure which has been designated for use by specified types of rail services in accordance with regulation 25;

(vii) the procedures to be followed and criteria used where infrastructure is congested infrastructure, including any priority criteria for the allocation of congested infrastructure set in accordance with regulation 26(5) and (6);

(viii) the findings of any capacity enhancement plan completed in accordance with regulation 28;

(ix) details of restrictions on the use of infrastructure;

(x) the threshold quota to be applied by the infrastructure manager in requiring a train path to be surrendered under regulation 29(1); and

(xi) the conditions relating to previous levels of utilisation of capacity to be taken into account by the infrastructure manager in determining priorities in accordance with regulation 29(3);

(k) details of any section of railway infrastructure which has been designated for use by specified types of rail services in accordance with regulation 25;

(l) the measures taken by the infrastructure manager to ensure fair treatment of rail freight services and international services, and in responding to ad hoc requests for infrastructure capacity.

(m) a template form for requests for capacity and detailed information about the allocation procedures for international train paths;

(n) information related to applications for–

(i) a licence, as published under regulation 10(1) of the Train Driving Licences and Certificates Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 ; and

(ii) a rail safety certificate issued in accordance with regulation 5 of the Railways (Safety Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 .

or, as an alternative to the information described in (i) and (ii) above, a reference to a website where such information is made available free of charge in electronic format.

(o) a model agreement for the conclusion of a framework agreement between an infrastructure manager and an applicant in accordance with regulation 21; and

(p) the criteria to determine failure to use capacity published under regulation 18(3)(a).

(5) The information provided under paragraph (4)(a) must be made consistent, on an annual basis with, or must refer to, the rail infrastructure registers to be published in accordance with regulation 35 of the Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2011.

(6) The information provided under paragraph (4)(c) and (d) must include–

(a) information on changes to charges referred to in that paragraph already decided upon or foreseen in the next five years, if available; and

(b) information on charges as well as other relevant information on access applying to services listed in Schedule 1 which are provided only by one supplier.

(7) The infrastructure manager must keep the network statement up to date and modify it as necessary.

(8) The infrastructure manager must publish the network statement in at least two official languages of the European Union.

(9) The infrastructure manager must publish the network statement not less than four months before the deadline for applications for infrastructure capacity as described under paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 3.

(10) Any fee charged by the infrastructure manager for the provision, on request, of a copy of the network statement must not exceed the cost of producing that copy.

(11) The content of the network statement must be made available free of charge in electronic format on the web portal of the infrastructure manager and must be accessible through a common web portal.

(12) The common web portal referred to in paragraph (11) must be set up by the infrastructure manager in the framework of its cooperation with infrastructure managers from the Republic of Ireland, in accordance with regulations 17 and 20.

(13) If the information required under paragraphs (2) or (3) is not provided to the satisfaction of the infrastructure manager, the infrastructure manager may refer the matter to the Office of Rail and Road for a determination as to whether additional information must be supplied.

(14) Where a matter is referred to the Office of Rail and Road in accordance with paragraph (13), it is the duty of the Office of Rail and Road to make the determination within such period as is reasonable in all the circumstances, and any such determination shall be binding on all parties.

PART 4 — INFRASTRUCTURE CHARGES

Establishing, determining and collecting charges

14

(1) The Department must establish the charging framework and the specific charging rules governing the determination of the fees to be charged in accordance with paragraphs (3) and (4).

(2) Subject to paragraph (7), the infrastructure manager must—

(a) determine the fees to be charged for use of the infrastructure in accordance with the charging framework, the specific charging rules, and the principles and exceptions set out in Schedule 2; and

(b) collect those fees.

(3) Subject to the provisions in paragraphs (1) and (2), the infrastructure manager must –

(a) charge fees for the use of the railway infrastructure for which the infrastructure manager is responsible; and

(b) utilise such fees as are received to fund the infrastructure manager's business.

(4) A service provider must –

(a) charge fees for the use of a service facility for which the service provider is responsible; and

(b) utilise such fees as are received to fund the service provider's business.

(5) Applicants must, subject to the right of appeal to the Office of Rail and Road, pay such fees as are charged by the infrastructure manager or service provider for use of the railway infrastructure or service facility.

(6) Subject to paragraph (7), if the infrastructure manager in its legal form, organisation and decision making functions, is not independent of any railway undertaking, the infrastructure manager must ensure that the functions described in this Part and Schedule 2 are performed by a charging body that is independent in its legal form, organisation and decision-making from any railway undertaking.

(6A) In paragraph (6) the infrastructure manager is not independent in its organisation or decision-making functions if, in particular—

(a) a railway undertaking or any other legal entity exercises a decisive influence on the infrastructure manager in relation to the infrastructure charging elements of the essential functions, without prejudice to the charging framework established pursuant to this regulation;

(b) a railway undertaking or any other legal entity within the vertically integrated undertaking has decisive influence on appointments and dismissals of persons in charge of taking decisions on the infrastructure charging elements of the essential functions; or

(c) the mobility of persons in charge of the infrastructure charging elements of the essential functions creates a conflict of interest.

(7) The separation required by paragraph (6) does not apply to the function of the collection of fees charged in accordance with paragraph (2)(b).

(8) The infrastructure manager or service provider must be able to justify that the charges invoiced to each railway undertaking for access to the infrastructure comply with the methodology, rules and, where applicable, scales laid down in the network statement and, where information about the charges imposed is requested by the Office of Rail and Road the infrastructure manager or service provider must supply the information requested.

(9) Infrastructure managers or service providers must co-operate to achieve the efficient operation of train services which cross more than one infrastructure network and should, in particular, aim to guarantee the optimum competitiveness of international rail freight.

(10) Infrastructure managers or service providers may establish such joint organisations as may be appropriate to enable the co-operation referred to in paragraph (9) to be achieved and any such organisations, or co-operation arising out of the operation of such organisations, must be bound by the rules set out in these Regulations.

(11) The infrastructure manager or service provider must respect the commercial confidentiality of information provided to it by applicants for infrastructure capacity.

Infrastructure costs and accounts

15

(1) The Department must ensure that, under normal business conditions and over a reasonable time period, which must not exceed five years, the accounts of an infrastructure manager shall at least balance—

(a) income from infrastructure charges;

(b) surpluses from other commercial activities;

(d) state funding, including, where appropriate, advanced payments from the state.

with railway infrastructure expenditure.

(2) The infrastructure manager must enter into an agreement with the Department which must fulfil the basic parameters set out in Schedule 3A , and cover a period of not less than five years.

(3) The infrastructure manager must, with due regard to safety and to maintaining and improving the quality of the infrastructure service, be provided with incentives to reduce the costs of provision of infrastructure and the level of access charges.

(4) In fulfilling its obligations under paragraph (2), the Department must base its decision on an analysis of the achievable cost reductions.

(5) The infrastructure manager must develop and maintain a register of its assets and the assets it is responsible for managing insofar as this information would be used to assess the funding needed to repair or replace such assets.

(6) The register referred to in paragraph (5) must be accompanied by details of expenditure on renewal and upgrading of the infrastructure.

(7) The infrastructure manager must establish a method for apportioning costs to the different categories of services offered by the railway undertakings, which must be updated from time to time on the basis of best international practice.

(8) Where required by the Department, the infrastructure manager must seek prior approval for the method of apportioning costs referred to in paragraph (7).

Performance scheme

16

(1) The infrastructure manager must establish a performance scheme as part of the charging system to encourage railway undertakings and the infrastructure manager to minimise disruption and improve the performance of the network.

(2) The performance scheme referred to in paragraph (1) may include—

(a) penalties for actions which disrupt the operation of the network;

(b) compensation for undertakings which suffer from disruption; and

(3) The performance scheme referred to in paragraph (1) must be based on the basic principles listed in paragraph 7 of Schedule 2 and must apply in a non-discriminatory manner throughout the network to which that scheme relates.

(4) The infrastructure manager must, as soon as possible, communicate to the railway undertaking a calculation of payments due under the performance scheme.

(5) A calculation under paragraph (4) must encompass all delayed train runs within a period of at most one month.

(6) Without prejudice to existing appeal procedures and to the right of appeal under regulation 32, in the case of disputes relating to the performance scheme, a dispute resolution system must be made available in order to settle such matters promptly.

(7) The dispute resolution system described in paragraph (6) must be impartial towards the parties involved and, if this system is applied, a decision must be reached within a time limit of 10 working days.

(8) Once a year, the infrastructure manager must publish the annual average level of performance achieved by the railway undertakings on the basis of the main parameters agreed in the performance scheme.

Cooperation in relation to charging systems on more than one network

17

(1) The infrastructure manager must cooperate with other infrastructure managers within Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to enable the application of efficient charging schemes, and must associate with them to coordinate the charging or to charge for the operation of train services which cross more than one infrastructure network of the rail system ....

(2) The infrastructure manager must, in particular, aim to guarantee the optimal competitiveness of international rail services and ensure the efficient use of the railway networks; to this end the infrastructure manager must cooperate with other infrastructure managers in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to establish appropriate procedures, subject to the rules set out in these regulations.

(3) For the purpose of paragraphs (1) and (2) the infrastructure manager must cooperate with infrastructure managers in the Republic of Ireland to enable mark-ups (as referred to in Schedule 2, paragraph 2) and performance schemes (as referred to in regulation 16) to be efficiently applied for traffic crossing more than one network of the rail system ....

Reservation charges

18

(1) The infrastructure manager may levy an appropriate charge (“reservation charge”) for capacity that is requested but not used.

(2) Where the infrastructure manager makes provision for a reservation charge to be imposed, that charge—

(a) must provide incentives for efficient use of capacity, and

(b) is mandatory in the case of a regular failure by an applicant to use the paths, or part of the paths, allocated to them.

(3) Where provision for a reservation charge has been made—

(a) the infrastructure manager must publish in its network statement the criteria used to determine the failure to use allocated paths, and

(b) the Office of Rail and Road must control such criteria in accordance with regulations 32 and 34.

(4) The infrastructure manager must provide, at the request of any interested party, information about the infrastructure capacity allocated to applicants.

PART 5 — ALLOCATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY

Capacity allocation

19

(1) Whilst respecting the requirements for management independence stipulated in regulation 8, the Office of Rail and Road may establish a framework for the allocation of infrastructure capacity.

(2) The infrastructure manager must, subject to paragraph (3), be responsible for the establishment of specific capacity allocation rules and for the process of allocating infrastructure capacity in respect of the infrastructure for which it has responsibility.

(3) If the infrastructure manager, in its legal form, organisation and decision making functions, is not independent of any railway undertaking, the infrastructure manager must ensure that the functions described in this Part and Schedule 3 are performed by an allocation body that is independent in its legal form, organisation and decision-making from any railway undertaking.

(3A) In paragraph (3) the infrastructure manager is not independent in its organisation or decision-making functions if, in particular—

(a) a railway undertaking or any other legal entity exercises a decisive influence on the infrastructure manager in relation to the train path allocation elements of the essential functions, without prejudice to the allocation framework established pursuant to this regulation;

(b) a railway undertaking or any other legal entity within the vertically integrated undertaking has decisive influence on appointments and dismissals of persons in charge of taking decisions on the train path allocation elements of the essential functions; or

(c) the mobility of persons in charge of the train path allocation elements of the essential functions creates a conflict of interest.

(4) Subject to paragraph (7), any applicant may apply to the infrastructure manager for the allocation of infrastructure capacity.

(5) In order to use such capacity, an applicant which is not a railway undertaking must appoint a railway undertaking to conclude a contract with the infrastructure manager in accordance with paragraph (14): this is without prejudice to the right of the applicant to conclude an agreement with the infrastructure manager under regulation 22(1).

(6) The infrastructure manager must ensure that the allocation process is conducted in accordance with the timetable set out in Schedule 3.

(7) Subject to paragraph (8), an applicant who has been granted capacity by the infrastructure manager, whether that capacity is in the form of—

(a) a framework agreement made in accordance with regulation 21 specifying the characteristics of the infrastructure granted; or

(b) specific infrastructure capacity in the form of a train path,

must not trade that capacity with another applicant or transfer it to another undertaking or service.

(8) Any person who trades in capacity contrary to the provisions of paragraph (6) shall not be entitled to apply for capacity under paragraph (4) for the period of the working timetable period to which the allocation of capacity transferred related.

(9) The use of capacity by a railway undertaking on behalf of an applicant who is not a railway undertaking, in order to further the business of that applicant, is not a transfer for the purpose of paragraph (6).

(10) The infrastructure manager must not allocate capacity in the form of specific train paths for any period in excess of one working timetable period.

(11) A contract, either in the form of a framework agreement or any other type of contract, setting out the rights and obligations of the parties, must be concluded between the infrastructure manager and any applicant to whom infrastructure capacity is allocated before that infrastructure capacity is utilised.

(12) The infrastructure manager must—

(a) ensure that infrastructure capacity is allocated on a fair and non-discriminatory basis;

(b) ensure that the agreements referred to in paragraph (10) are non-discriminatory, transparent, and in accordance with the requirements of these regulations; and

(c) respect the confidentiality of information supplied as part of the capacity allocation process, including the identity of other applicants during disclosure under regulation 23(5) unless the relevant applicant has agreed to disclosure of their identity. .

(13) In reserving infrastructure capacity for the purposes of scheduled track maintenance, as requested under regulation 22(3), the infrastructure manager must take into account the effect of that reservation on applicants.

(14) An applicant applying for infrastructure capacity with a view to operating a passenger service must give notice of that fact to the infrastructure manager concerned and to the Office of Rail and Road at least 18 months before the entry into force of the working timetable to which the request for capacity relates and provide such information as the Office of Rail and Road may reasonably require or prescribe.

(15) When the Office of Rail and Road receives a notice from an applicant under paragraph (14) it must , without undue delay and at the latest within 10 days, provide—

(a) any competent authority that has awarded a rail passenger service, defined in a relevant public service contract;

(b) any railway undertaking which is a relevant public service operator; and

(c) any other competent authority with a right to limit access along the route of the ... passenger service notified under paragraph (14) .

with a copy of the information in relation to that service provided to it in accordance with that paragraph.

(16) The infrastructure manager may set requirements with regard to applicants to ensure that its legitimate expectations about future revenues and utilisation of the infrastructure capacity are safeguarded.

(17) Requirements under paragraph (16)—

(a) Must be appropriate, transparent and non-discriminatory;

(b) Must be specified in the network statement; and

(c) May only include the provision of a financial guarantee by an applicant if the level of such guarantee does not exceed an appropriate level which is proportional to the contemplated level of activity of the applicant, and where such guarantee provides assurance of the applicant's capability to prepare compliant bids for infrastructure capacity.

(18) The infrastructure manager must set any requirements under paragraph (15) in accordance with the criteria contained in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/10 of 6 January 2015 on criteria for applicants for rail infrastructure capacity and repealing implementing Regulation (EU) No. 870/2014 .

Co-operation in the allocation of infrastructure capacity crossing more than one network

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(1) This regulation applies to the allocation of infrastructure capacity in the form of a train path crossing more than one network of the rail system in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

(2) Infrastructure managers must –

(a) co-operate to enable the efficient creation and allocation of infrastructure capacity to which this regulation applies, including under a framework agreement, and

(b) before consulting on the draft working timetable in relation to relevant train paths agree with the other relevant infrastructure managers which international train paths are to be included in that draft working timetable.

(2A) Infrastructure managers required by paragraph (2)(a) to cooperate in the allocation of infrastructure capacity crossing more than one network, must provide, without delay, all the information requested by the Office of Rail and Road which is necessary for the purpose of handling an appeal or an own initiative investigation on issues of access or charging relating to an international train path.

(3) The international train paths referred to in paragraph (2)(b) may only be adjusted if absolutely necessary.

(4) The infrastructure managers must establish such procedures as are appropriate, in accordance with the requirements set out in these regulations, to enable the co-operation referred to in paragraph (2)(a) to take place, and such procedures must include coordination with representatives of the infrastructure managers whose allocation decisions have an impact on one or more other infrastructure managers.

(5) The procedures established by virtue of paragraph (4) may permit appropriate representatives of infrastructure managers outside Northern Ireland to be associated with these procedures.

(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(7) The infrastructure manager must provide the Office of Rail and Road with sufficient information about the development of common principles and practices for the allocation of infrastructure and from any IT-based allocation systems, to allow it to perform its regulatory supervision.

(8) At any meeting or other activity undertaken to facilitate the allocation of infrastructure capacity across more than one network, decisions may only be taken by representatives of the relevant infrastructure managers.

(9) In acting in accordance with paragraph (2) the infrastructure managers must assess the need for and, where necessary, propose and organise international train paths in such a way as to enable ad hoc capacity for freight services to be granted in accordance with regulation 24.

(10) The prearranged train paths referred to in paragraph (2)(b) must be made available to applicants through any infrastructure manager who participates in the international co-ordination of train paths referred to in this regulation.

(11) The Office of Rail and Road must review decisions and practices of infrastructure managers required to co-operate under this regulation, in relation to train services which cross more than one network, where those decisions and practices implement provisions in these Regulations or which otherwise facilitate international rail transport.

Framework agreements

21

(1) Subject to the requirements of this regulation, ... an infrastructure manager may enter into a framework agreement with an applicant for the purpose of specifying the characteristics of the infrastructure capacity required by and offered to the applicant over a period of time exceeding one working timetable period.

(2) An applicant who is party to a framework agreement may apply for the allocation of capacity in accordance with the terms of that agreement.

(3) Whilst seeking to meet the legitimate commercial needs of the applicant, and without prejudice to paragraph (11), a framework agreement must not specify any train path in detail.

(4) The effect of a framework agreement must not be such as to preclude the use of railway infrastructure subject to that framework agreement by other applicants or services.

(5) A framework agreement must contain terms permitting the amendment or limitation of any condition contained in that framework agreement if such amendment or limitation would enable more efficient use to be made of the railway infrastructure.

(6) A framework agreement may contain penalties applicable on modification or termination of the agreement by any party.

(7) Other than in circumstances described in paragraphs (8) and (9), a framework agreement made in accordance with paragraph (1) will in principle be for a period of five years renewable for periods equal to its original duration, provided that the infrastructure manager may agree to a shorter or longer period in specific cases.

(8) Subject to paragraphs (9) and (10), a framework agreement for a period of longer than five years must be justified by the existence of commercial contracts, specialised investments or risks.

(9) Subject to paragraph (10), a framework agreement in relation to railway infrastructure which has been designated in accordance with regulation 25(2) (“a designated infrastructure framework agreement”) may be for a period of up to fifteen years where there is a substantial and long term investment justified by the applicant.

(10) A framework agreement for a period in excess of fifteen years may be made in exceptional cases, which may be justified by the existence of large-scale and long-term investment and in particular where such investment is covered by contractual commitments.

(11) Whilst respecting commercial confidentiality, the general nature of each framework agreement must be made available by the infrastructure manager to any interested party.

(12) An application for a designated infrastructure framework agreement to which paragraph (9) or (10) applies may specify the capacity characteristics, including the frequency, volume and quality of the train paths, to be provided to the applicant for the duration of the framework agreement in sufficient detail to ensure these are clearly established.

(13) The infrastructure manager may reduce capacity reserved under the terms of a designated infrastructure framework agreement to which paragraph (9) or (10) applies where, over a continuous period of at least one month, that capacity has been used less than the threshold stipulated in the network statement.

Application for infrastructure capacity

22

(1) Applicants may submit a request to the infrastructure manager, for an agreement granting rights to use railway infrastructure against a charge as provided for in Part 4.

(2) An applicant wishing to apply for infrastructure capacity must submit an application to the infrastructure manager in accordance with the timetable for the allocation process set out in Schedule 3.

(3) Requests for infrastructure capacity to enable maintenance of the network to be carried out must be submitted in accordance with the timetable set out in Schedule 3.

(4) The infrastructure manager must inform interested parties as soon as possible about the unavailability of infrastructure capacity due to unscheduled maintenance work.

Scheduling and co-ordination

23

(1) The infrastructure manager must, so far as possible—

(a) meet all requests for infrastructure capacity, including those requests for train paths which cross more than one network; and

(b) in doing so, take account of all constraints on applicants, including the economic effect on their business.

(2) The infrastructure manager may give priority to specific services within the scheduling and co-ordination process, but only in accordance with the provisions in regulations 25 and 26.

(3) The infrastructure manager must consult interested parties about the draft working timetable, and must allow such interested parties a period of at least one calendar month to submit their comments.

(4) In the event of conflict between different requests for infrastructure capacity, the infrastructure manager must use all best endeavours, in consultation with the appropriate applicants, to co-ordinate the requests and, in so far as it is reasonable to do so, may propose alternative infrastructure capacity from that requested in order to resolve the conflict.

(5) Consultation under paragraph (4) must be based on the disclosure by the infrastructure manager of the following information within a reasonable time, free of charge and in written or electronic form—

(a) train paths requested by all other applicants on the same routes;

(b) train paths allocated on a preliminary basis to all other applicants on the same routes;

(d) full details of the criteria being used in the capacity allocation process

(6) Information disclosed by the infrastructure manager in accordance with paragraph (5) must not disclose the identity of other applicants, unless the applicants concerned have agreed to such disclosure.

(7) The infrastructure manager must facilitate the establishment and operation of a dispute resolution system, which must be set out in the network statement, to resolve disputes about the allocation of infrastructure capacity and, where that system is applied, a decision on the matters in dispute must be reached no later than ten working days after the final submission of all relevant information in accordance with that system.

(8) The dispute resolution system provided for in paragraph (7) is without prejudice to the right of appeal to the Office of Rail and Road under regulation 32(1).

(9) The infrastructure manager must take such measures as are appropriate to deal with any concerns about the allocation process raised by interested parties.

(10) For the purposes of this regulation “interested parties” includes—

(a) all applicants for infrastructure capacity as part of the specific allocation process to which the draft working timetable relates; and

(b) other parties who have indicated to the Office of Rail and Road, in such form or manner as the infrastructure manager may from time to time require, that they wish to have the opportunity to comment as to the effect that the working timetable might have on their ability to procure rail services during the working timetable period to which the draft working timetable relates.

Ad hoc requests

24

(1) In addition to making an application for capacity in accordance with the annual timetable process described in regulation 22 an applicant may submit ad hocrequests for infrastructure capacity in the form of individual train paths to the infrastructure manager.

(2) The infrastructure manager must respond to a request described in paragraph (1) as quickly as possible and, in any event, no later than five working days from receipt of the request.

(3) The infrastructure manager must make available, to all potential applicants for such individual train paths, information about available spare capacity on the network for which it is responsible.

(4) The infrastructure manager must, including in the case of congested infrastructure, undertake an evaluation of the need for reserve capacity to be kept available within the final working timetable to enable it to respond rapidly to foreseeable ad hocrequests for infrastructure capacity.

Declaration of specialised infrastructure

25

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), all infrastructure capacity must be available for the use of all types of rail transport service which conform to the characteristics necessary for use of that infrastructure, as defined in the infrastructure manager's network statement.

(2) Subject to the provisions set out in paragraph (3), ... an infrastructure manager may designate particular sections of the infrastructure for use by specified types of rail service and, once the infrastructure is so designated, may give priority to that specified type of rail service in the allocation of infrastructure capacity.

(3) Those provisions are that—

(a) suitable alternative routes for other types of rail transport service must exist and be available;

(b) before making such a designation the infrastructure manager must consult the Department, the Office of Rail and Road and all other interested parties; and

(c) such designation must not prevent the use of that designated infrastructure by other types of rail transport service when capacity is available

Congested infrastructure

26

(1) Where, after the co-ordination of requests for capacity and consultation with the applicants in accordance with regulation 23(4), it is not possible for the infrastructure manager to satisfy requests for infrastructure capacity adequately, the infrastructure manager must declare that element of the infrastructure on which such requests cannot be satisfied to be congested.

(2) Where, during the preparation of the working timetable for the next timetable period, the infrastructure manager considers that an element of the infrastructure is likely to become congested during the period to which that working timetable relates, he must declare that element of the infrastructure to be congested.

(3) When railway infrastructure has been declared to be congested under the provisions of this regulation the infrastructure manager must inform—

(a) existing users of that railway infrastructure;

(b) new applicants for infrastructure capacity which includes that element of the infrastructure which has been declared to be congested;

(d) the Department.

(4) Where railway infrastructure has been declared to be congested in accordance with paragraph (1) or (2) the infrastructure manager must undertake a capacity analysis of the congested infrastructure, as described in regulation 27, unless a capacity enhancement plan, as described in regulation 28, is in the process of being implemented.

(5) When an element of the infrastructure has been declared to be congested in accordance with paragraphs (1) or (2) and either—

(a) a charge as described in paragraph 1(8) of Schedule 2 has not been levied; or

(b) the charge described in sub-paragraph (a) has been levied but has not achieved a satisfactory result,

the infrastructure manager may set priority criteria for the allocation of infrastructure capacity which includes that congested element of the infrastructure.

(6) The priority criteria referred to in paragraph (5) must—

(a) take account of the importance of a service to society, relative to any other service which will consequently be excluded; and

(b) ensure that freight services, and in particular international freight services, are given adequate consideration in the determination of those criteria.

(7) If during the course of the working timetable period to which the declaration of congested infrastructure relates, but before the completion of the capacity analysis, the congestion is resolved, the infrastructure manager may revoke the declaration made in accordance with sub-paragraph (1).

(8) Where sub-paragraph (7) applies, the infrastructure manager must inform the persons referred to in sub-paragraph (3) that the declaration has been revoked.

Capacity analysis

27

(1) Where required in accordance with regulation 26(4), the infrastructure manager must carry out a capacity analysis of the congested infrastructure in order to identify the reasons for the congestion and the measures which might be taken in the short and medium term to ease that congestion.

(2) In conducting the capacity analysis, and in order to identify the reasons for the congestion, the infrastructure manager must consider the—

(a) characteristics of the congested railway infrastructure;

(b) operating procedures used on that railway infrastructure; and

(3) In seeking to determine measures to alleviate congestion the infrastructure manager must consider, in particular—

(a) re-routing of services;

(b) re-timing of services;

(d) infrastructure improvements.

(4) The infrastructure manager must consult the Department during the preparation of the capacity analysis.

(5) The infrastructure manager must complete the capacity analysis within six months from the date on which the railway infrastructure is declared to be congested in accordance with regulation 26(1) or (2) and make the findings of the analysis available to the parties described in regulation 26(3).

Capacity enhancement plan

28

(1) The infrastructure manager must, within six months of the publication of a capacity analysis in accordance with regulation 27, produce a capacity enhancement plan.

(2) In producing the capacity enhancement plan, the infrastructure manager must—

(a) consult such interested parties as he considers necessary, including those described in regulation 26(3); and

(b) at least one month before the deadline for completion of the plan seek the prior approval of the Department to the capacity enhancement plan

(3) The capacity enhancement plan must identify the—

(a) reasons for the congestion;

(b) likely future development of traffic;

(d) options for and costs of enhancing the capacity, including the potential effect on access charges.

(4) On the basis of a cost benefit analysis of the potential measures for action identified in the capacity enhancement plan, that plan must include—

(a) details of the action to be taken to enhance the capacity of the congested infrastructure; and

(b) a timetable for the completion of the detailed measures identified in accordance with sub-paragraph (a).

(5) Subject to paragraph (6), if the utilisation of capacity on that element of the railway infrastructure which is the subject of the capacity enhancement plan attracts a scarcity charge, in accordance with paragraph 1(8) of Schedule 2 the infrastructure manager must cease the levying of such charge in situations where—

(a) paragraph (1) applies but a capacity enhancement plan for that part of the railway infrastructure which is subject to the scarcity charge has not been produced, as required by this regulation; or

(b) the infrastructure manager fails to make progress with implementation of those areas of the action plan produced in accordance with paragraph (4).

(6) Paragraph (5) does not apply where—

(a) the action plan produced in accordance with paragraph (4) cannot be implemented for reasons beyond the immediate control of the infrastructure manager; or

(b) the options identified in that action plan are not economical or financially viable,

provided that prior approval to continue to levy the scarcity charge is obtained from the Office of Rail and Road.

(7) At the end of the six month period starting with the publication of the capacity analysis in accordance with regulation 27, whether or not the approval sought under paragraph (2) (b) has been received, the infrastructure manager must provide the parties consulted under paragraph (2) (a) with a copy of the plan and the timetable for completion of the measures identified to resolve the congestion.

Use of train paths

29

(1) Subject to paragraph (2) the infrastructure manager must, in particular where railway infrastructure has been declared to be congested in accordance with regulation 26, require an applicant who has, over a period of at least one month, used a train path less often than the threshold quota stipulated in the network statement, to surrender that train path.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply if, in the view of the infrastructure manager, the failure to use the train path in accordance with the threshold quota stipulated in the network statement arose as a result of non-economic reasons outside the control of the applicant.

(3) The infrastructure manager must in the network statement specify conditions under which previous levels of capacity utilisation will be taken into account in determining the priorities to be used in making decisions on the allocation of capacity.

Special measures to be taken in the event of disruption

30

(1) In the event of disruption to train movements caused by technical failure or accident, the infrastructure manager must take all such steps as are necessary to restore the normal operation of the network.

(2) The infrastructure manager must have in place a contingency plan listing the various bodies who are required to be informed in the event of a serious incident or serious disruption to train movements.

(2A) In the event of disruption which has the potential to affect cross-border traffic, the infrastructure manager must share any relevant information with other infrastructure managers whose network or traffic may be affected and the infrastructure managers concerned must cooperate to restore cross-border traffic to normal.

(3) The infrastructure manager may, in the event of an emergency and where absolutely necessary on account of a breakdown which renders a part of the railway infrastructure temporarily unusable, withdraw allocated train paths without warning and with immediate effect for such period as is necessary to repair the affected infrastructure.

(4) Subject to paragraph (5), the infrastructure manager may, if he deems it to be necessary, require applicants to make available to him such resources as the infrastructure manager considers appropriate to restore the normal operation of the network as quickly as possible.

(5) Where a contract or framework agreement between an applicant and the infrastructure manager incorporates conditions as to the special measures to be taken in the event of disruption, the resources required by the infrastructure manager under paragraph (4) must be in accordance with those conditions.

PART 6 — REGULATION AND APPEALS

Regulatory body

31

(1) The Office of Rail and Road is designated as the regulatory body for the purposes of these regulations and when carrying out its functions under these Regulations shall have a duty to act in a manner which is best calculated—

(a) to promote improvements in railway service performance;

(b) to protect the interests of users of railway services;

(c) to promote the use of the railway network for the carriage of passengers and goods, and the development of that network, to the extent that it considers economically practicable;

(d) to contribute to the development of an integrated system of transport of passengers and goods;

(e) to promote efficiency and economy on the part of persons providing railway services;

(f) to promote measures designed to facilitate the making, by passengers, of journeys which involve use of the services of more than one passenger service operator;

(g) to take account of the need to protect all persons from dangers arising from the operation of railways;

(h) to have regard to the effect on the environment of activities connected with the provision of railway services;

(i) to have regard to any general guidance given to it, by the Department, about railway services or other matters relating to railways;

(j) to have regard to the funds available to the Department for the purposes of its functions in relation to railways and railway services;

(k) to have regard to the interests of persons who are disabled when performing its duties relating to the services for the carriage of passengers by railway or to station services; and

(l) where any general guidance is given to the Office of Rail and Road for the purposes of subparagraph (i) above—

(i) it may be varied or revoked by the Department at any time; and

(ii) the guidance, and any variation or revocation of the guidance, must be published by the Department in such manner as it considers appropriate.

(2) The Office of Rail and Road must ensure that charges for the use of railway infrastructure imposed by the infrastructure manager comply with the requirements of Part 4 and Schedule 2.

(3) Negotiations between an applicant and the infrastructure manager about the level of infrastructure charges are only permitted if carried out under the supervision of the Office of Rail and Road and, if such negotiations are likely to contravene the requirements of these regulations, it is the duty of the Office of Rail and Road to intervene.

(4) The Office of Rail and Road may in particular, as part of the intervention mentioned in paragraph (3), issue such directions to the applicant or the infrastructure manager as it considers appropriate for the purpose of ensuring that no contravention arises or, to the extent that a contravention has arisen, that it ceases.

(5) Where the Office of Rail and Road prescribes the manner and form in which any notification or appeal must be lodged in accordance with these regulations, it must publicise this information in such manner as it considers appropriate.

(6) Procedural arrangements made by the Office of Rail and Road must ensure that a person with ultimate responsibility for taking a decision under regulations 32, 33, 34 and 35, complies with the criteria listed in paragraph (7); and

(a) shall include arrangements under which a member, employee or committee-member who has a financial or other personal interest which is likely to influence his performance of a particular function is obliged-

(i) to declare the interest; and

(ii) to withdraw from the performance of the function to the relevant extent.

(b) Procedural arrangements made by the Office of Rail and Road shall include arrangements under which a member, employee or committee-member who has a financial or other personal interest which is relevant to a particular function but does not fall under sub-paragraph (a) is obliged –

(i) to declare the interest; and

(ii) unless the members of the Office of Rail and Road direct otherwise, to withdraw from the performance of the function to the relevant extent

(7) The criteria are that such persons—

(a) must make an annual declaration of—

(i) their commitment to the impartial fulfilment of their duties under these regulations, and

(ii) any direct or indirect interests which may be considered prejudicial to their independence and which might influence their performance of any function;

(b) must withdraw from decision making in cases which concern an undertaking with which they have had a direct or indirect connection in the year before the commencement of any procedure relating to a decision described in paragraph (6);

(d) must have no professional position or responsibility with any regulated railway undertaking or entity for a period of not less than a year commencing at the end of their term of employment to take decisions under paragraph (6).

(8) Without prejudice to the right of any person to make an application to the Court under Order 53 of the Rules of Court Judicature (NI) 1980 , it is the duty of any person to whom a direction is given under paragraph (4) to comply with and give effect to that direction.

(9) The Office of Rail and Road may levy a charge on the Infrastructure Manager for such fees and expenses as are appropriate for the discharge of its duties.

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