Agreements

Freight connections can be divided into three categories. These are:

• Private sidings not owned by the British Railways Board (BRB) before Railtrack (latterly Network Rail) was formed on 1 April 1994
• Connection agreements for sites owned or controlled by former BRB companies (for example, train operating companies, freight operating companies, infrastructure maintenance companies)
• New connection agreements that have been made since we took over

You can view the details of these agreements by the links on the left.

Network Rail has a Model Connection Contract.

Private sidings agreements
Connection agreements pre-1994
New connection agreements
Maintenance, renewals and disconnection costs
Setting up connections agreements

Private sidings agreements

In the past, all links to railway company lines were covered by a private siding agreement between the freight shipper and the railway company involved. Under these agreements, the railway company usually maintained the connections on its line (the red sidings) at the shippers expense and the shipper maintained the sidings on its own land (the blue sidings). Many of these agreements have been in force for many years and passed to the British Railways Board when the railways were nationalised in 1948.

Most of the agreements that have remained, together with more recent agreements made by the British Railways Board companies, were transferred to us in April 1994 under the Network Rail Transfer Scheme. The only exceptions were certain private siding agreements that were transferred from the British Railways Board to the freight operating companies.

Network Rail Customer Service is responsible for managing direct connections from the Network Rail network to private sidings. Through our Customer Service Team, we have established processes for managing private sidings. These processes make sure that:

• All sidings linked to our network are properly documented and maintained
• We collect the correct charges
• Our zone staff are aware of our duties under the agreements

View list of private sidings

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Connection agreements pre-1994

Connection agreements for sites owned or controlled by former BRB companies before 1994 are between Network Rail and the freight operating companies. Our Customer Service team manages them in a similar way to private siding agreements to make sure that we carry out our duties under the agreements and that we claim back costs where possible.

At freehold sites, these connection agreements are independent agreements. At leasehold sites, they are attached to the lease.

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New connection agreements

New sites that have been linked to our network since 1994 are also covered by a connection agreement. These agreements follow a standard pattern under which we claim back from the connected organisation the costs of maintaining the part of the connection on our network. The agreement may also include details of who should pay building costs.

To separate these agreements from earlier private siding agreements, the parts of our network provided only for the freight connection are known as orange sidings, and the sidings, which are your responsibility, are known as purple sidings.

We also use this new form of connection agreement if we need to replace an older private siding agreement or if there was no suitable agreement in the past.

Connection agreements are considered to be access agreements under the Railways Act 1993. This means that connection agreements made after 1 April 1994 must be approved by the Office of the Rail Regulator.

The Customer Service team can give advice on and produce a suitable connection agreement acting on a request from:

• A freight operating company
• One of our account executives
• Another Network Rail department involved in the development
• Our Route Freight Manager
• Anyone else involved

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Maintenance, renewals and disconnection costs

We usually charge separately for connections to our network and for the costs included in track access agreements. This means that we can continue to claim back the costs of maintaining the connection if rail traffic stops for any reason.

In all cases, the relationship between connection and track access charges will make sure that we do not make the same charge twice. And our charging structure allows for expected improvements in our efficiency.

Under a small number of private siding agreements for very heavily used connections, we must also produce and agree a yearly maintenance plan and costs for siding track and signalling equipment. These plans are produced by the region involved based on details provided by the Customer Service team.

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Setting up connections agreements

The Customer Service team is responsible for setting up and negotiating connection agreements in co-ordination with the relevant Route Freight Manager, Account Executive or Network Rail department.

Both parties should contact the Office of the Rail Regulator as soon as possible to make sure that all necessary rules are being met.

The normal step-by-step process for putting a connection agreement in place is as follows:

1. Our Customer Service Team agrees the terms of the connection agreement with you.
2. We (or you) draw up the connection agreement and discuss it.
3. We both confirm to the ORR that we agree to the terms of the connection agreement.
4. We (or you) send the connection agreement and a letter of support to the ORR.
5. The ORR reviews the agreement and either approves it as it stands or consults you and us about necessary changes to it.
6. You sign the agreement with us.
7. We send the signed agreement to the ORR to be recorded in the public register. (Certain details in the agreement may not be recorded if the ORR agrees that they are commercially sensitive.)

We will do all we can to help you during this process.

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