If a rail operator is using rail tracks under open access agreements do they still have to pay to use the line

Question

or is it free of charge and subsidised by the other operators who have to pay

Answer 1

yes they do.

Answer 2

They still have to pay.

Answer 3

Yes, of course they have to pay track access charges. The open access arrangements merely refer to the fact that a company, other than the franchisee or franchisees are permitted to run services over a particular stretch of railway. Anybody using the tracks has to pay. And pay a great deal. That is why you get the nonsense of locomotives being moved from one location to another by road, rather than rail, as it is cheaper to hire a low-loader and crew rather than pay Network Rail. It is also why charter trains have to charge such high fares. It is one of the many nonsenses of the privatised railway bequeathed to us by John Major and his cronies.

Answer 4

They still pay, but the franchise Train Operating Companies claim that Open Access Operators get it on the cheap, because overhead costs are not fairly distributed