Changing open access analysis "would delay all ECML passenger and freight decisions"

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has warned that the process to apply new analysis for current open access applications would delay all decisions relating to the East Coast Main Line.

The Department for Transport (DfT) wrote to the regulator on June 20, asking it to consider the cumulative total of annual revenue abstraction from existing applications would be up to £229 million.

The DfT believed it was “critical” ORR took steps to “fully understand and consider the cumulative scale and impacts of abstraction” when considering open access applications.

ORR said the letter had no bearing on its decision to reject proposals by FirstGroup, Virgin and Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway to use the West Coast Main Line and warned about the risks of changing the analysis process.

Chief Executive John Larkinson wrote in a letter to DfT: “Our view is that developing, carrying out, consulting on and applying the new analysis proposed in your June 20 letter before finalising any further open access decisions risk delaying all our current planned access decisions affecting all passenger and freight operators on the East Coast.

“Such a delay would require extensive work at pace by industry to put in place temporary access rights instead to ensure the planned December 2025 timetable can be operated, creating a significant administrative burden and introducing avoidable risk to the timetable’s implementation.”

ORR has said it plans to decide on five open access application relating to the ECML without changing its approach to “assessing the impact on funds available to the Secretary of State”.

The five applications are for Lumo (additional Newcastle service and extending two services from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street), Hull Trains (additional service and Sheffield via Worksop) and Grand Central (additonal services to Bradford Interchange, Wakefield Kirkgate, York and additional calls at Seaham and Peterborough).

ORR has given the DFT to reply by July 7 if they want to delay the ORR process.