Commentary on Sections and Schedules Discontinuance of railway passenger services Section 22: Proposal by operator to discontinue non-franchised services
108.Subject to specified exceptions, this section sets out the circumstances and procedures that apply when a service operator proposes to close all non-franchised services on a line or from a station.
109.It sets out the information an operator proposing a closure must provide to the appropriate National Authority (NA - the Secretary of State or the Scottish Ministers). This must include a summary of the assessment of the proposal carried out by the operator, following guidance provided by the Secretary of State or the Scottish Ministers or joint guidance provided by a combination of the Secretary of State, Scottish Ministers or National Assembly of Wales depending on the circumstances of the closure as set out in section 42. The content of the guidance is not on the face of the Act, but is likely to include criteria that cover economic, financial, environmental and social factors based on those used by the Department for Transport for appraisals in other transport modes.
110.The NA must carry out a public consultation on any proposal that it thinks should proceed, following the approach set out in Schedule 7 to the Act. This includes a number of statutory consultees, with a minimum 12 week consultation period.
111.Following the consultation, the NA must then decide whether to refer the proposal to the ORR, the outcome of which will determine if the closure may proceed or not.