Charters win security until 2019 as penalties for delay remain capped

摘要

After lengthy negotiations and tough bargaining on all sides, charter trains look to be safe until April 2019. The latest development comes in the wake of Network Rail publishing its proposed tariff of charges for charter services for the next five-year financial period, starting in April. There has been a lot of behind-the-scenes lobbying by the charter industry to NR and the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) in the last 12 months, much of which has had to remain unreported until now. NR wrote to the charter industry players on August 1 detailing the tariff of access charges and, more importantly, the proposed performance penalties associated with charters for the five-year funding period. The Railway Magazine has hinted at the progress of these consultations from time to time and the outcome has been pretty much as we predicted.