1.41 The Department has ensured that the involvement of new parties, such as ICRR and Railtrack, has not diluted its ability to influence and monitor the project. The Department has a special share in ICRR entitling it to a fixed dividend and certain information. In the ICRR management agreement, the Department has also protected its right to take Eurostar UK back into public ownership in the event of default under the Development Agreement with LCR. The Department is a co-signatory to the contract that governs Railtrack's participation in the project. In the restructured deal with LCR, the Department obtained and has exercised the right to appoint a director to the board of the company and has included more explicit terms setting out the information that it considers necessary to monitor not only progress but also the financial health of the project.
1.42 In tandem with its increased powers the Department is more actively monitoring the performance of LCR and others. The Department's advisers are now receiving the information they consider essential to assess and update the Department's retained risks. In March 2000 the Department commissioned Booze-Allen & Hamilton to review Eurostar UK passenger and revenue forecasts, following LCR's assessment that Eurostar UK performance will fall below the Government's downside case for the year 2000.