(1)It shall be the duty of the Committee to investigate any matter relating to a relevant railway matter if—
(a)it is the subject of a representation made to the Committee by a user or potential user of railway passenger services;
(b)it is referred to the Committee by the Secretary of State, [F2the Office of Rail and Road], the [F3Passengers’ Council], the London Assembly or Transport for London; or
(c)it appears to the Committee that it is a matter that it ought to investigate.
(2)A matter is a relevant railway matter for the purposes of subsection (1) if it relates to—
(a)the provision of railway passenger services wholly or partly within the London railway area; or
(b)the provision of station services within that area in a case in which the operator of the station is authorised by a licence under Part 1 of the Railways Act 1993.
(3)The Secretary of State may also refer the following matters to the Committee for the purpose only of requiring the Committee to prepare a report on them—
(a)matters relating to the quality of railway passenger services provided wholly or partly within the London railway area; and
(b)matters relating to the quality of station services provided in that area.
(4)The Committee must also assist the Secretary of State, to such extent and in such manner as he may require, in ascertaining whether the franchise operator in the case of a particular franchise agreement is attaining the standards set for the provision of the franchised services.
(5)The Committee is not required to investigate a matter in a case falling within subsection (1)(a) if it appears to the Committee that the representation is frivolous or vexatious.
(6)Subsection (2) of section 252A applies for the purposes of this section as it applies for the purposes of that section.]
Textual Amendments
F1Ss. 252B-252D inserted (24.7.2005) by Railways Act 2005 (c. 14), s. 60(2), Sch. 6 para. 3; S.I. 2005/1909, art. 2, Sch.
F2Words in s. 252B(1)(b) substituted (16.10.2015) by The Office of Rail Regulation (Change of Name) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/1682), reg. 1(2), Sch. para. 4(n)(v)
F3Words in s. 252B(1)(b) substituted (E.W.S.) (25.2.2010) by The Passengers’ Council (Non-Railway Functions) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/439), art. 1, Sch. para. 7(2)