Railways Act 2005

These notes relate to the Railways Act 2005 (chapter 14, ISBN 0105414050) which contains a number of measures to implement the proposals set out in the Government's White Paper ('The future of rail', Cm 6233; ISBN 0101623321) published in July 2004. These measures seek to address structural problems within Britain's railways system in order to establish a more simplified structure, and include: the winding up of the Strategic Rail Authority, with its strategic and financial functions being passed to the Department for Transport and the devolved administrations, and consumer protection activities taken over by the Office of Rail Regulation; and the transfer of rail safety functions from the Health and Safety Commission/Executive to the Office of Rail Regulation.