ACCESS DISPUTE RESOLUTION COMMITTEE
held
in London on 11 March 2003
Present:
Tony Holland,
Chairman
Bill Davidson (Network Rail)
Tim Clarke (Anglia Railways)
Tony Deighan (Eurostar (U.K.))
Nigel Oatway (English Welsh & Scottish Railway)
Ian Osborne (Freightliner)
In attendance:
Chris Blackman (Secretary)
Martin Shrubsole (Clerk)
Apologies:
Julia Glenn (Network Rail)
Mike Price (ScotRail Railways)
Niel Wilson (North Western Trains)
59/1 Minutes of meeting No.58
The minutes of meeting no.58
held on 11
December 2002 were
approved. The Chairman signed a copy of
the minutes as a true record of the proceedings.
59/2 Matters arising from the
minutes of the previous meeting
The Secretary advised that the Class Representative Committee met on 30 January 2003 and approved all the changes proposed to the Access Dispute Resolution Rules with the exception of the Proposal 19 to withhold a rebate to Industry Parties who failed to pay the Annual levy within the 30 days prescribed. However, the proposal to provide a mechanism to make an interest surcharge on late payers had been approved. Members noted that, although the proposals had been sent to the Regulator on 5th February, his approval was still awaited.
Members noted that Direct Rail Services and West Coast Railway had now paid the annual levy for 2002/03.
59/3 Changes
in Membership
Members noted that Network
Rail had appointed Adrian Thear as Alternate to Bill Davidson following the
resignation of Tim Robinson.
59/4 Review of outturn for 2002/03 and approval of Budget for 2003/04
Members noted the Committee’s expenditure for the current
year was satisfactorily within budget, and that the outturn for 2002/03
indicated a surplus of income against expenditure, due to a reduction in the
number of hearings before the ADRC, and a marked reduction in the expected
workload for the Timetabling Committee in the New Year.
Members asked that
some adjustment be made to the level of certain individual elements of the
budget, but approved the overall budget for 2003/04 at £270,000.
59/5 Preparation
of the 8th Annual Report
Members declared that the 8th Annual
Report should be prepared in the same format as the 7th report
published in 2002. A draft should be
circulated in mid-April for review at the next meeting, prior to publication in
May 2003.
It was agreed that there was opportunity for the
Business Review section of the report to review the state of the dispute
resolution process. Furthermore it
would be opportune for the Chairman to write a suitable cover letter addressing
the issue, setting out the position and objectives of the Committee in the
context of the dispute resolution processes and seeking views on what changes
in process industry parties feel might be required.
The Committee also agreed
that the Clerk should update part 2 of the report, absorbing the decisions of
the Committees during the 12 month period, and, in the business review to incorporate
some brief comments on the implications of the Regulator’s decision on the
appeal against determination ttc132 of the Timetabling Committee.
Action: Secretariat
59/6 Update on References
The Secretary advised members that he had received
notification of a reference, associated with the application of the Railtrack
Independent Station Access Conditions, from Thameslink Rail and two other Train
Operators on the subject of Qualifying Expenditure. A hearing had been provisionally earmarked for March 2003, but
the parties had requested more time to engage in further discussions to try and
resolve the issues.
Submissions were expected shortly from the parties
to reference AD29, Great Eastern Railway and Network Rail, on the subject of
Schedule 8 application to delays on the Great Eastern main line. This is an issue which it had been
anticipated might have been referred to the Delay Attribution Board for
guidance under the prospective changes to Part B of the Track Access
Conditions.
Notification had been
received of a reference from Maintrain under the Depot Access Conditions. The Secretary was checking that the
Committee had locus to hear the issues involved. If this turns out to be the case the Committee should expect to
hear the reference at its May meeting.
59/7 Wensleydale Railway
Company agreement with EWS
Nigel Oatway tabled a
memorandum concerning the sale of the Redmire branch by Network Rail to the
Wensleydale Railway Company, and the proposal by that Company and English Welsh
& Scottish Railway to enter into an agreement for the latter to operate
trains on the branch in a manner similar to the present. The dispute resolution terms proposed in the
agreement between the two companies provide for certain types of disputes to be
referred to the Industry Committee and the two companies wished to know whether
this proposal was acceptable to the Committee.
After a brief
discussion, Members agreed that the Committee would be happy in principle to
fulfil such a role, and wished to receive a copy of the relevant parts of the
signed Agreement in due course.
59/8 Appeals referred to the Rail Regulator
The Committee noted the
Regulator’s judgment on the appeal in respect of determination ttc132
(Railtrack v Eurostar (U.K.)) and his comments concerning the failure of
Timetabling Sub-Committee to take proper cognisance of the aspects of law in
its determination made in late 2001.
The Chairman indicated that, since his appointment in April 2002, he was
taking appropriate action to ensure that relevant legal aspects were properly
addressed by the Committee.
59/9 The
Committee’s contract with the Clerk
The Chairman advised that he
had reviewed the position of the Clerk and recommended his contract be extended
to a second year. The Committee endorsed
the Chairman’s recommendation.
59/10 Date of
next meeting
Thursday 24 April.