Railways Act 1993

131 Modification of Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976

(1) The [1976 c. 34.] Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976 (the “1976 Act”) shall not apply to an agreement relating to the provision of railway services if the making of the agreement, and the inclusion in it of each provision by virtue of which the 1976 Act would (apart from this subsection) apply to the agreement, is required or approved—

(a) by the Secretary of State or the Regulator, in pursuance of any function assigned or transferred to him under or by virtue of any provision of this Act (other than this section);

(b) by or under any agreement the making of which is required or approved by the Secretary of State or the Regulator in pursuance of any such function; or

(c) by or under a licence granted under Part I above.

(2) In subsection (3) below, “relevant agreement” means an agreement—

(a) which relates to the provision of railway services; and

(b) to which (notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) above) the 1976 Act applies.

(3) If it appears to the Secretary of State—

(a) that those provisions of a relevant agreement, or of relevant agreements of some particular class or description, by virtue of which the 1976 Act applies to that agreement or those agreements do not have, and are not intended or likely to have, to any significant extent the effect of restricting, distorting or preventing competition, or

(b) that all or any of those provisions have, or are intended or likely to have, that effect to a significant extent, but that the effect is not greater than is necessary for—

(i) the protection of the interests of users of railway services,

(ii) the promotion of the use of any railway network in Great Britain or elsewhere for the carriage of passengers and goods or the development of any such railway network,

(iii) the promotion of efficiency and economy on the part of persons providing railway services, or

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

he may give a direction to the Director requiring him not to make an application to the Restrictive Practices Court under Part I of the 1976 Act in respect of that relevant agreement or, as the case may be, any relevant agreement of that class or description.

(4) The Secretary of State may vary or revoke any direction given under subsection (3) above if he is satisfied that there has been a material change of circumstances such that—

(a) the grounds for the direction have ceased to exist; or

(b) there are grounds for giving a different direction;

and where the Secretary of State so varies or revokes any direction, he shall give notice of the variation or revocation to the Director.

(5) In this section “agreement” has the same meaning as in the 1976 Act; and, subject to that, expressions which are used in this section and in Part I above have the same meaning in this section as they have in that Part.