PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
West Coast Main Line (1 July 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many operators' licence applications for new services on the West Coast Main Line have been submitted to the Office for Rail Regulation since May 2010 to date; and which services the applicants wished to operate in each case.

Asked by:
Lisa Nandy (Labour)

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has received 6 new applications for passenger and freight train operator licences since May 2010. Train operator licences allow a train operator to run services throughout Great Britain or, if a European licence has been issued, Europe. Operator licences are not route specific.

ORR also approves rights for specific train services which are held in track access agreements between Network Rail and train operators. Information about previous applications at route level is not readily available, however ORR advises it has one current track access application for new services using the West Coast Main Line (WCML). This is from Alliance Rail Holdings for new services between: London Euston and Leeds via Crewe, Stalybridge and Dewsbury; Bradford Interchange via Newton-le-Willows and Rochdale; Blackpool North via Preston; and Carlisle via Barrow-in-Furness and the Cumbrian Coast. ORR is able to provide further information about previous track access applications on the WCML should the hon Member wish to contact the office at One Kemble Street, London, W2CB 4AN.

Answered by:
Stephen Hammond (Conservative)
8 July 2014