Devolution of rail franchising on agenda
Papers published today reveal that York decided to join Rail North Ltd (RNL) and the Association of Rail North Partner Authorities on 30th November.
Rail North is the name of an interim organisation that was established with the aim of promoting the devolution of rail franchising from Whitehall to the North of England. It is grouping of all 30 local transport authorities in the North of England.
Details of the terms that would apply to York’s continuing participation in the project have been revealed in a comprehensive report.
The decision was made by the Councils Chief Executive.
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The voting power that the City would have in the conglomerate (54 votes out of 1003) are revealed (see left).
The City would pick up the same proportion of the costs. No indications are given in the papers of the scale of any such liability.
In the short term they are described as “nominal”.
The new franchises for the Northern and TransPennine services were announced a couple of weeks ago.
The new Council seems to be doing little better than its predecessor on transparency issues.
There is really no reason why the relevant reports like these could not be published before meetings actually took place.
Other recent behind closed doors decisions include:
- Establishing a shared service arrangement with Harrogate Borough Services for ICT Management
- Aldreth Grove: Results of the consultation on a Residents’ Priority Parking Scheme
- Lawrence Street: Request to consider and advertise amendments required to the Traffic Regulation Order to facilitate Vita Student Accommodation development, planning reference 14/0204
A full list of York Council decisions can be found by clicking here