Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to preserve the duration and substantive operating rights of existing open-access agreements during the transition to Great British Railways; and in what circumstances they envisage departing from that approach.

The Government intends to preserve both the duration and the substantive Schedule 5 access rights contained in existing contracts through the transition to Great British Railways (GBR). The power at Clause 71 is not intended to revisit, reduce or extinguish those rights; rather, it is intended to ensure they continue to have practical effect within the new regime. That commitment was introduced in the Government's consultation on the Railways Bill, confirmed in the formal response, and reiterated throughout passage in both Houses. We do not envisage departing from that approach, recognising its importance for operators and for maintaining investor confidence in rolling stock and wider rail supply chains. Accordingly, no adverse impact on rolling stock investment or wider investor confidence is anticipated.