Written question asked by Baroness Hanham (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Adonis (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 January 2010.

Railways: Passengers' Rights

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government why there was a two-year delay between the adoption of the European Union regulation on rail passengers' rights and obligations (1371/2007) and the public consultation on the cost and benefit data associated with the non-core provisions.

Answer: The Government invited representatives of the passenger train operators, who have expressed concern about the likely costs of implementation, to provide evidence to support their position. It appears that they found it difficult to assemble the necessary evidence, because it was not forthcoming until April 2009. We concluded that their figures were not sufficiently substantiated or robust to enable us to take a sound decision about the extent of implementation. We therefore included a question about the costs and benefits in the recent consultation.

Secondary information