What is Open Access

An Open Acess rail service is one that's provided by a company that's not under contract to the Department for Transport to operate a route, and is arranged and financed between the operating company and other interested parties.

The alternative to an Open Access arrangement (and the arrangement under which most services are operated) is a franchise under which the operator is paid by the DfT, or the DfT pays the operator, to provide a service under a contract that lasts, perhaps, 7 to 10 years.  First's contract for FGW, for example, has the DfT substantially subsidising for the first third, is roughly bread even for the second third, and has First making substantial payments to the DfT in the final (and optional) three years.

Whats the mechanism for providing Open Access?

The company wishing to provide the service gets a 'license' from the Office of Rail Regulation to allow it access to the tracks

What is looked at in approving / rejecting an Open Access agreement?

a) That the proposals are made by an organisation that has the financial and operational ability to make them work

b) That there's capacity on the parts of the network involved to take the extra services

c) That they're not going to have a detrimental financial impact on the railway as a whole (This is looked at by the DfT according to a recent parliamentary question)

Does Open Access work anywhere?

Yes. Hull Trains (a part of the First group) runs an open access service from North Humberside to London King's Cross. Great Central is starting a Sunderland to London service now that the courts have decided in their favour (just last week) when the Open Access arrangement was challenged by the incumbent franchise operator on part of the route.

Could it work in Wiltshire?

Potentially, Yes.  With the DfT / franchise abandoning all through services "TransWilts" from Swindon to Salisbury - a fast growing corridor where train service have seen a 700% growth in traffic in five years and could be set to continue, there's a strong case for a service that provides services such as Trowbridge and Melksham to Swindon, Swindon to Warminster and Chippenham to Salisbury.   From December 2006,  these public transport routes will only by serviced by bus or dogleg incidental connections in peak and daytime hours.

See http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/open.html for worked detail.