Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether existing rail track access rights will (a) remain and (b) be unfettered by the introduction of (i) the Railways Bill and (ii) policies thereunder.

The Government has committed to honouring existing access rights. As existing contracts expire, operators will move on to new GBR model access contracts. There will be a need to make technical amendments to existing contracts to ensure that they continue to work effectively following GBR stand up and the Government has included a power for the Secretary of State to make such amendments as required.