Decision on Railtrack a blow for E&Y
The question of who runs the railways was decided yesterday when the Court of Appeal backed the Rail Regulator's right to choose how to run Railtrack.
The decision will be a blow to Ernst & Young, Railtrack’s administrator, who argued it should make decisions on running the rail infrastructure company, due to be taken over by Network Rail, a not-for-profit company set up by the Strategic Rail Authority.
Tom Winsor, head of the Office of the Rail Regulator, had gone to the High Court in May when EWS, the freight company, could not agree terms with the administrators on track access agreements.
The High Court sided with Ernst & Young, but the decision was overturned on appeal.
The Court of Appeal said: ‘Because of his statutory responsibilities, the Rail Regulator is better placed to make an overall assessment of what is in the interests of the rail network than the railway administrators or even the court.’