Letter of support from the Department for Transport in respect of these applications
| Date | 27 April 2016 |
| Section | Transport for London appeal under regulation 29 and complaint under regulation 30 of the Railways Infrastructure (Access and Management) Regulations |
-
Department
for Transport
Joanna Whittington
Chief Executive Officer
Office of Rail and Road
1 Kemble Street
Westminster
London
WC2B 4AN
Dear Joanna,
Matthew Lodge
Director Major Projects
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P4DR
DIRECT LINE:
020
7944
6224
Personal Assistant:
020
7944
4945
Web Site: www.dft.gov.uk
27 April 2016
Crossrail
services
to
Heathrow:
Application
to
the Office
of
Rail and Road
You will
be
aware that Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) undertook a
rail
industry consultation
in
July 2015 as part of its commitment
to
comply with the Railways Infrastructure (Access
and Management) Regulations 2005 (the "2005 Regulations").
Crossrail services from Paddington to Heathrow are due to commence
in
May 2018.
In
order for this to happen, appropriate terms of access need to
be
agreed sufficiently
in
advance to allow, amongst other things, the usual industry timetabling process to take
place.
In
the view
of
the Crossrail Sponsors, to date, the contractual documentation provided by
HAL to allow the operati
on
of Crossrail trains on its rail infrastructure does not comply with
the 2005 Regulations. Regrettably, this
is
despite the considerable number
of
comments
provided to HAL's advisers over the past year by the Crossrail Sponsors.
In
any event, and irrespective of the question of compliance with 2005 Regulations,
we
also
have significant concerns with many aspects of the terms proposed by HAL for access to
the Heathrow rail infrastructure. Our view remains that the terms of access offered by HAL
are not fit for purpose and this now poses a significant risk to our plans for the start of
Crossrail servi
s:;
es to Heathrow Airport
in
2018.
Discussions with HAL's advisers ceased some months ago and as a result the Crossrail
Sponsors consider that they have been left with
no
alternative but to lodge
an
application
under the 2005 Regulations with the ORR.
I
am
therefore writing to you to provide the Department for Transport's support to Transport
for London's applications made under Regulations 29 and 30 of the 2005 Regulations.
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