About ORR

The Government has set out the need for greater transparency in public expenditure.

Our online e-tendering system enables us to publish notices, pre-qualification questionnaires, and invitations to tender.

We actively encourage and support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and third sector organisations to compete for our contracts.

To ensure value for money, our procurement activities are subject to different levels of competition based on the value of the expenditure.

As the safety and economic regulator of the rail industry and Highways England’s monitor, we work with a number of organisations in the railway industry.

The rail infrastructure in the UK is complex and comprises of a number of different bodies. We are the health and safety regulator for the UK’s mainline network and for a number of other forms of transport that run on rail.

Although the UK has now left the EU, most legislation emanating from the rail packages continues to be in force subject to amendments introduced by "EU exit" regulations. This is referred to as "retained EU law" in the EU Withdrawal Act.

Our safety and economic functions are driven by legislation, and we are accountable to Parliament and the public.