Key Milestones

February 2007	Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) publishes its ‘Advice to ministers and framework for setting access charges’
July 2007	Secretary of State for Transport and Scottish Ministers publish their high level output specifications (HLOSs) and statements of public funds available (SoFAs)
October 2007	Network Rail completes its Strategic Business Plan (SBP), including indicative levels of individual access charges
November 2007	ORR launches a public consultation on the SBP
December 2007	ORR completes its initial assessment of whether the HLOSs can be delivered for the available public funds
February 2008	ORR publishes its assessment of the SBP, including decisions on the financial framework following the August 2007 consultation and decisions on the early start programme for 2009-10
April 2008	Network Rail makes any necessary revisions to the SBP
June 2008	ORR publishes its draft determinations for Control Period 4 (CP4; which runs from 2009-2014), marking the start of a 12-week consultation period
August 2008	Network Rail responds to ORR draft conclusions
October 2008	ORR publishes its final determinations for CP4
December 2008	Final access charges (price lists/charge schedules) are audited and approved and a review notice is served starting the implementation of Periodic Review 2008
February 2009	Final point at which objections could be made to ORR’s review notice starting implementation, leading to a revised notice or possible Competition Commission reference
March 2009	Network Rail publishes its CP4 business plan