asked Her Majesty’s Government:

What steps they are taking, in consultation with the Government of France, to increase the number of freight trains using the Channel Tunnel. [HL4281]

Under the terms of the Channel Tunnel rail usage contract (RUC), and in line with the access charge provisions of the first European rail package, we agreed in November 2006 that the British Railways Board (BRB) should continue to bear the UK freight allocation of Eurotunnel’s “operational expenses” charges payable under the RUC. We did so because these represent overhead infrastructure costs not directly incurred as a result of operating the railway service.

To enable BRB to do this, we changed the arrangements by which those rights and obligations of the BRB previously delegated exclusively to English Welsh & Scottish Railway are now delegated to any international freight train operator.

These changes have kept trains running. Any further steps to increase the number of services are a matter for the signatories to the Channel Tunnel usage agreement; that is, the BRB, the French national railway (SNCF) and Eurotunnel.