GLOSSARY

Department for Transport - www.dft.gov.uk

Under the Railways Act 2005 the DfT will set the strategic direction for the railway in England and Wales, specifying what high-level outputs it requires from the railway and what funds will be available to purchase them.

The DfT is also responsible for the administration of the Rail Environmental Benefit Procurement Scheme (REPS) grants for England, Wales and Scotland, and for Freight Facilities Grants in England.

Grants

Taking freight off of congested roads and moving it by rail can have both environmental and wider social benefits and there are two types of grant funding available to help with this modal shift.

These schemes are:

a) Freight Facilities Grant scheme (FFG): This helps offset the capital cost of providing rail freight handling facilities.

b) Rail Environmental Benefit Procurement Scheme (REPS): assists companies with the operating costs associated with running rail freight transport instead of road (where rail is more expensive than road). The scheme is a direct replacement for the Track Access Grant (TAG) and Company Neutral Revenue Support (CNRS) schemes in Great Britain.

REPS operates in two parts:

REPS (Intermodal) for the purchase of intermodal container movements by rail (replaces CNRS).

REPS (Bulk) for the purchase of other freight traffic movements by rail (replaces TAG).

For more information on both schemes visit http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/freight/railfreight/rfg/?version=1

Freight Operating Companies

Freight Operating Companies (FOCs) are the licensed bodies who operate freight trains on the UK rail network. At present there are eight FOCs competing in the UK. These are: Advenza, Amec Spie Rail UK, Direct Rail Services, EWS, Fastline, Freightliner, GB Railfreight and Victa Westlink Rail.

Network Rail - www.networkrail.co.uk

Network Rail is a private not for profit company which operates and maintains the rail infrastructure in the UK.

Office of Rail Regulation - www.rail-reg.gov.uk

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) was established on 5 July 2004 by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003. It replaces the Office of the Rail Regulator. 

As the railway industry's economic regulator, the Office's principal function is to regulate Network Rail's stewardship of the national network. The ORR also licenses operators of railway assets, approves agreements for access by operators to track, stations, and light maintenance depots, and enforces domestic competition law.

The ORR is led by a Board appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport, under the chairmanship of Chris Bolt. 

Scottish Executive - www.scotland.gov.uk

Under the Railways Act 2005 the Scottish Executive will set the strategic direction for the railway in Scotland, specifying funding and what high-level outputs it requires.

The Scottish Executive administers Freight Facilities Grants for Scotland.

Welsh Assembly - www.wales.gov.uk

The Welsh Assembly has responsibility for administering Freight Facilities Grants in Wales.

For information on European organistions click here. More contact details for any of the organisations mentioned above can be found at RFG Directory.

See also: www.networkrail.co.uk/freight/glossary.htm.