18 June 2004
Rail regulator Tom Winsor has proposed wide-ranging dispute resolution arrangements for the industry, aimed at preventing a repeat of the legal rows with train operators that followed the 2000 Hatfield crash.
Winsor told Public Finance that the proposed reform of the industry's access dispute resolution committee – one plank of the draft regulations unveiled on June 7 – should help Network Rail resolve disputes with train operators 'efficiently, effectively and with greater certainty'.
It is, at least in part, a response to the public spat between the GNER train operating company and Railtrack, Network Rail's predecessor, that erupted after the Hatfield crash.
Following the accident, GNER made a claim for more than £100m for 'economic losses' incurred, because it claimed that the deteriorating condition of the track meant Railtrack was responsible. Railtrack argued it had an 'exclusion of liability'.
Winsor believes the row was not settled satisfactorily because the tribunal set up to deal with the dispute chose not to use legal criteria but to apply what it considered in the circumstances to be 'reasonable' principles.
The proposed regime will empower the ADRC with a membership that can determine the legality of such claims quickly and effectively, which Winsor says will reduce the potential to 'misdirect itself as to the applicable law'.
Winsor has also proposed the establishment of a railway industry mediation and arbitration service, similar to Acas. It would be made up of appointed experts who would deal with disputes referred to them involving all railway industry parties, and not just those with access contracts.
The new rules could be introduced in January 2005, following consultation this summer.
PFjun2004
