Network Rail
- Date 21 October 2021
- Sector Other
- Decision(s) EIR 12.5.e: Not upheld, EIR 14: Partly upheld, EIR 5: Partly upheld
The complainant has requested information about a specific railway station. Network Rail Ltd (NR) initially released some information and, in addition to personal data, withheld some information under regulation 12(5)(e) of the EIR (commercial confidentiality). NR subsequently identified further relevant information that it holds, some of which it released. NR continues to withhold information under regulation 12(5)(e) and is also now withholding a small amount of it under regulation 12(5)(a)(public safety). The Commissioner’s decision is as follows: NR applied regulation 7(1) of the EIR correctly initially but breached regulation 5(2) of the EIR as it did not make available to the complainant all the disclosable information it holds within the required timescale. NR breached regulation 14(2) of the EIR as it did not issue a refusal notice in respect of some of the relevant information within the required timescale. NR is entitled to withhold some of the requested information under regulation 12(5)(e) of the EIR and the public interest favours maintaining this exception. The Commissioner does not require NR to take any remedial steps.