The Railways Act 2005 (c 14) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

concerning the regulatory structure for

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Overview

The bill was introduced and published on 25 November 2004 and received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

on 7 April 2005. The act implemented the institutional changes published in the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

on rail of 15 July 2004, principally: * Abolished the

Strategic Rail Authority The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry. Its motto was 'Britain's railway, properly delivered'. I ...

(SRA), transferring some of its functions to the Secretary of State, some (consumer protection ones) to the

Office of Rail Regulation The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting ...

, and some to the devolved administrations. * Reduced the financial jurisdiction of the Office of Rail Regulation, imposing a Treasury-determined cap on its financial powers and requiring the

Secretary of State for Transport The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent is ...

to specify what he wants in return for the public subsidy which goes into the railway industry. * Established Passenger Focus as a single national consumer representation body, replacing the geographically separated

Rail Passengers Council Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport * Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ...

. * Set up a new regime for the closure of railway facilities and services.

Government defeat

During the final parliamentary stages of the passage of the Railways Act 2005, the government sustained a defeat in the House of Lords over an amendment which would have protected passenger and train operators against a diminution of infrastructure quality or performance – or being held rigidly to their contracts for the provision of railway services which assumed no such diminution - if the

restricted funds available to

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's len ...

. However, the amendment was reversed the same day in the House of Commons with a much weaker provision substituted for it. The House of Lords did not insist on their original amendment, and the legislation was passed without the protections which the train operators needed. Critics regarded this as an unjustified interference in an inter-dependent contractual matrix, contrary to the legitimate expectations of private investors in the railway.

Section 60 - Short title, commencement and extent

References

Halsbury's Statutes ''Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales'' (commonly referred to as ''Halsbury's Statutes'') provides updated texts of every Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measure of the Welsh Assembly, or Church of England Mea ...

External links

The Railways Act 2005
as amended from the National Archives.
The Railways Act 2005
as originally enacted from the National Archives.
Explanatory notes
to the Railways Act 2005.
Summary of key points
{{UK legislation Railway Acts United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2005 2005 in rail transport Transport policy in the United Kingdom