Written question asked by Lord Grayling (Conservative) on Friday, 6 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 10 January 2006. It was answered by Derek Twigg (Labour) on Tuesday, 24 January 2006 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Railways

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what contingency arrangements he has put in place in the event of Network Rail becoming insolvent.

Answer: Network Rail is making good progress towards delivering the obligations established by the Access Charge Review 2003, including its efficiency savings target. Financial monitoring by ORR indicates that Network Rail is well within its financial licence condition and the likelihood of the company becoming insolvent in the foreseeable future is therefore remote. Accordingly, no specific contingency arrangements have been considered. However, should a protected railway company be unable to or likely to become unable to pay its debts, the Railways Act 1993, as amended, includes powers for the Secretary of State to petition for a Railway Administration Order in relation to that company.

Secondary information