Commentary on Sections Access contracts Section 2
10.Section 2 aims to delineate more clearly the exclusion that the CTRL has from regulation by the ORR. Under the 1996 Act, the CTRL is generally excluded from the ORR's regulatory jurisdiction under the 1993 Act: any operator of the CTRL is not required to hold a licence under the 1993 Act (section 16(1) of the 1996 Act); and, as a general rule, access contracts in relation to the CTRL do not require the prior approval of the ORR (section 17 of the 1996 Act). There is an exception to this in section 17(3) of the 1996 Act, however, which this provision removes.
11.Railway facilities on the CTRL which may fall within the scope of section 17(3) of the 1996 Act include St Pancras and other stations on the new line, where they interconnect with the national rail network. Consequently, prior to this Act coming into force, access contracts in relation to these stations were susceptible to regulation by the ORR under the 1993 Act. They would also be subject to regulatory oversight by the Secretary of State, in accordance with the terms of the Development Agreement. The purpose of this section is to ensure that all access contracts in relation to the CTRL should be outside regulation by the ORR under the 1993 Act. Accordingly, section 2 repeals section 17(3) of the 1996 Act, and makes a consequential amendment to section 17(2).