Valid from 01/12/2006
(1)A proposal is a proposal for a minor modification if—
(a)it is a proposal for a closure which has been determined under the following provisions of this section to be a minor modification; or
(b)it is a proposal for a closure of a description of closures in relation to which such a determination has been made.
(2)It is the Scottish Ministers who may make a determination that a closure is a minor modification, or that closures of a particular description are minor modifications, where the only closures to which the determination relates consist in—
(a)the discontinuance of one or more Scotland-only services;
(b)the discontinuance of one or more cross-border services in relation to which no funding is provided by a railway funding authority other than the Scottish Ministers;
(c)the discontinuance of two or more services none of which is a service not mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b);
(d)the discontinuance of a network or part of a network that is wholly in Scotland; or
(e)the discontinuance of a station or part of a station that is wholly in Scotland.
(3)It is the Secretary of State who, in any other case, may make a determination that a closure is a minor modification, or that closures of a particular description are minor modifications.
(4)A determination may be made under this section only if the person making it considers—
(a)in the case of a determination relating to a particular closure, that the closure is eligible under section 35 to be regarded as a minor modification; or
(b)in the case of a determination relating to a description of closures, that all the closures falling within that description are or will be so eligible.
(5)A person who makes a determination under this section in relation to a particular closure for the purposes of section 22, 26 or 29 may make it subject to conditions; and, in such a case, the closure is not to be treated as a minor modification unless, as the case may be—
(a)the person providing the service or services to be discontinued, or
(b)the person operating or using the network or station, or the part of a network or station, in question,
has agreed to comply with those conditions.
(6)The person who makes a determination under this section in relation to a particular closure must notify the Office of Rail Regulation about that determination.
(7)A determination under this section in relation to a description of closures may be revoked at any time by the person who made it.
(8)A person who makes or revokes a determination under this section in relation to a description of closures must—
(a)send a copy of the determination or revocation to the Office of Rail Regulation; and
(b)publish it in such manner as he considers appropriate.
(9)The revocation of such a determination shall not affect any closure if its status has been relied on before the revocation as grounds for—
(a)a failure to give a notice under this Part; or
(b)the carrying out of any closure.
(10)Any general determination which—
(a)has been made under section 46A of the 1993 Act,
(b)is a determination that closures of a particular class or description are minor closures, and
(c)is in force immediately before the coming into force of this section,
shall have effect after that time as a determination made under this section that closures of that class or description are minor modifications for the purposes of this Part.
(11)Any conditions agreed to under section 37(1), 39(1) or 41(1) of the 1993 Act in connection with any determination under the section in question that a closure is a minor closure shall have effect after the commencement of this section as if agreed to for the purposes of subsection (5).