THE REFORM OF RAIL TRANSPORT IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Abstract

Two resolutions emerged in the early 1990s to bring about the reform of Britain's rail industry. In 1991 the European Commission issued a directive, 91/440/EEC,1 calling upon each Member State to introduce a degree of open access rights2 to enable third party train operators to gain access on fair commercial grounds to the EC rail system. To this end, States were also directed at this time to separate their accounting systems for rail infrastructure from their operations, to facilitate transparency of track access costs. The subsequent European Commission's (1996) White Paper on railway financ es, A strategy for Revitalising the Community's Railways? called for Member States to allow their railways to operate on a commercial basis, and for governments to compen sate their railways for operating non-profitable services. EC Directive 91/440/EEC was implemented into UK law by the Railway Regula tions 1992; the Railways Act 1993 builds on the Directive's objectives. Objectives set out in the Act also pre-empt similar goals set out in the EC 1996 White Paper, notably on financial operation. Part of the British approach to fulfilling the EC's financial ob

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