Today, the Competition Authority Tribunal (CAT) published its decision on the dispute between Achilles and Network Rail.

Achilles had alleged that Network Rail had abused its dominant position in the market for the operation and provision of national rail network infrastructure in Great Britain.

The case related to the adoption of a requirement that the Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme (‘RISQS’) be the mandatory supplier assurance scheme in the rail industry for the assessment of whether suppliers met the relevant criteria for certain safety standards,  to the exclusion of all other potentially competing schemes.

The CAT ruled in favour of Achilles, concluding that Network Rail’s requirement that suppliers must obtain supplier assurance only through RISQS had adverse effects on competition, which did not have an objective justification on Health and Safety grounds. The full judgment is available here.

David Parker, Director in Frontier’s competition practice, was the economic expert for Achilles, giving evidence on the economic effects of the RISQS-only rule.

Frontier has a number of experts who provide written and oral testimony on competition litigation, commercial and investor-state arbitrations, judicial review, and other forms of dispute resolution.

For more information please contact media@frontier-economics.com, or call +44 (0)20 7031 7000.