Railways Act 1993

4 General duties of the Secretary of State and the Regulator

(1) The Secretary of State and the Regulator shall each have a duty to exercise the functions assigned or transferred to him under or by virtue of this Part in the manner which he considers best calculated—

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

(b) to promote the use of the railway network in Great Britain for the carriage of passengers and goods, and the development of that railway network, to the greatest extent that he considers economically practicable;

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

(d) to promote competition in the provision of railway services;

(e) 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;

(f) to impose on the operators of railway services the minimum restrictions which are consistent with the performance of his functions under this Part;

(g) to enable persons providing railway services to plan the future of their businesses with a reasonable degree of assurance.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(a) above, the Secretary of State and the Regulator shall each have a duty, in particular, to exercise the functions assigned or transferred to him under or by virtue of this Part in the manner which he considers is best calculated to protect—

(a) the interests of users and potential users of services for the carriage of passengers by railway provided by a private sector operator otherwise than under a franchise agreement, in respect of—

(i) the prices charged for travel by means of those services, and

(ii) the quality of the service provided,

in cases where the circumstances appear to the Secretary of State or, as the case may be, the Regulator to be such as to give rise, or be likely to give rise, to a monopoly situation in the passenger transport market; and

(b) the interests of persons providing services for the carriage of passengers or goods by railway in their use of any railway facilities which are for the time being vested in a private sector operator, in respect of—

(i) the prices charged for such use; and

(ii) the quality of the service provided.

(3) The Secretary of State and the Regulator shall each be under a duty in exercising the functions assigned or transferred to him under or by virtue of this Part—

(a) to take into account the need to protect all persons from dangers arising from the operation of railways, taking into account, in particular, any advice given to him in that behalf by the Health and Safety Executive; and

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

(4) The Secretary of State shall also be under a duty, in exercising the functions assigned or transferred to him under or by virtue of this Part, to promote the award of franchise agreements to companies in which qualifying railway employees have a substantial interest, “qualifying railway employees” meaning for this purpose persons who are or have been employed in an undertaking which provides or provided the services to which the franchise agreement in question relates at a time before those services begin to be provided under that franchise agreement.

(5) The Regulator shall also be under a duty in exercising the functions assigned or transferred to him under this Part—

(a) until 31st December 1996, to take into account any guidance given to him from time to time by the Secretary of State;

(b) to act in a manner which he considers will not render it unduly difficult for persons who are holders of network licences to finance any activities or proposed activities of theirs in relation to which the Regulator has functions under or by virtue of this Part (whether or not the activities in question are, or are to be, carried on by those persons in their capacity as holders of such licences); and

(c) to have regard to the financial position of the Franchising Director in discharging his functions under this Part.

(6) In performing his duty under subsection (1)(a) above so far as relating to services for the carriage of passengers by railway or to station services, the Regulator shall have regard, in particular, to the interests of persons who are disabled.

(7) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (e) of subsection (1) above, any arrangements for the issue and use of through tickets shall be regarded as a measure falling within that paragraph.

(8) For the purposes of this section, “monopoly situation” has the same meaning as it has in the [1973 c. 41.] Fair Trading Act 1973 (in this Part referred to as “the 1973 Act”), except that in relation to the passenger transport market—

(a) the expression includes a monopoly situation which is limited to the passenger transport market in some part of the United Kingdom; and

(b) in the application of section 7 of the 1973 Act (monopoly situation in relation to the supply of services) for the purposes of paragraph (a) above, references in that section to the United Kingdom shall accordingly be taken to include references to a part of the United Kingdom.

(9) In this section—

• “environment” has the meaning given by section 1(2) of the [1990 c. 43.] Environmental Protection Act 1990;

• “the passenger transport market” means the market for the supply of services for the carriage of passengers, whether by railway or any other means of transport;

• “through ticket” means—

  (a)

  a ticket which is valid for a journey which involves use of the services of more than one passenger service operator; or

  (b)

  a combination of two or more tickets issued at the same time which are between them valid for such a journey.