Part 4Network modifications etc.

Excluded proposals

I137Discontinuance of experimental passenger services

1

Where—

a

a railway funding authority is a party to a franchise agreement under which an experimental passenger service is provided,

b

the person providing the service proposes to discontinue it after the requirement to provide it has come to an end, and

c

that authority does not propose to secure the continued provision of the service,

that authority must give notice of the proposed discontinuance of the service.

2

Where—

a

an experimental passenger service is provided otherwise than in satisfaction of requirements imposed by a franchise agreement, and

b

the person providing the service proposes to discontinue it,

that person must give notice of his proposal and must not discontinue the service before the end of the notice period.

3

The notice required to be given under this section is a notice which—

a

sets out the details of the proposed discontinuance; and

b

is published in the required manner.

4

A notice is published in the required manner if it is published, in two successive weeks—

a

in a local newspaper circulating in the area affected by the proposal;

b

in two national newspapers; and

c

in such other manner as appears to the person giving the notice to be appropriate.

5

A person giving notice of a proposed discontinuance under subsection (2) must send to the Office of Rail Regulation a copy of the notice published under subsection (3)(b).

6

In this section “the notice period”, in relation to a proposal to discontinue a service, means the period of six weeks after the notice of that proposal has been published in the required manner.

7

For the purposes of subsection (4)(a) the area affected by a proposal to discontinue an experimental passenger service is the area in which is situated the line or station in relation to which the service is designated as experimental.

8

For the purposes of subsection (4)(b) as it applies in relation to—

a

a Scotland-only service, or

b

a Wales-only service,

a newspaper which circulates generally in Scotland or, as the case may be, Wales is to be regarded as being a national newspaper.