Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what safeguards will be included in the Great British Railways licence to manage conflicts of interest arising from Great British Railways’ dual role as system operator and rail retailer.

To ensure fair and open competition when Great British Railways (GBR) has a dual role as a retailer and provider of wider retail industry management functions, the government has announced a robust package of safeguards. These are a Code of Practice, with the force of a GBR licence condition; separation of decision-making between GBR’s retailer and its cross-industry systems and services; and ORR monitoring and enforcement of GBR’s adherence with the Code of Practice.

The retail Code of Practice will incorporate clear requirements for how GBR should interact with all market participants. There will be full consultation on the Code of Practice, and further detail will be confirmed in due course.