There are complaints on the Government’s Red Tape Challenge website that not enough information is given to let people make up their minds on what the likely effect of the abolition of 200 regulations relating to rail transport would be.

Mininsters’ whole point is that, in most cases, the impact on passengers would be negligible or non-existent: this is all, supposedly, pointless red tape.

So why include the National Rail Conditions of Carriage? It seems deliberately provocative, and a clear sign that operators’ interests are taken more seriously than passengers’ rights. The website makes clear that the presumption is in favour of getting rid of all the rules and orders and regulations highlighted – 200 in rail alone, thousands across every sector – so what would happen in the unlikely event that nobody made any representations about the Conditions of Carriage? Would they just be abolished at a stroke – surely not. So why are they there?

In its drive to free up business, the Government is in danger of forgetting about the interests of consumers, passengers and the public.