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Railways

My Lords, I note the points made by the noble Lord, but I reiterate my own point: it is not our intention to bring forward legislation that would engage in another process of musical chairs in the management of the industry. I do not have time to respond to all the points that were raised. My noble friend Lord Rosser spoke about what happens if franchises fail. If they fail, well established procedures are in place. Of course, in recent years one failed and the department needed to step in as operator of last resort. I believe that we can meet his points in that regard. I shall be happy to correspond with my noble friend Lord Berkeley on rail freight and access charges to the CTRL, although my understanding is that that is still a matter for ongoing negotiation. I know that he has a strong interest in seeing a successful outcome to those negotiations. In conclusion, I simply reiterate my thanks to all who have spoken and note the general support in the House for the future of the rail industry, beginning with the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Lyell, who painted a very optimistic picture. I see that he is rising to intervene. I will respond to his points. We are making big investments in improving the capacity of the rail freight sector to handle larger containers than has been the case in the past. That was one of his concerns.