Our recommendations are targeted at the operators of stations that deliver high volumes of passenger assistance.

Recommendation 1

Ensure that processes are in place at station-level that regularly bring staff together to review data on assistance outcomes, identify causes of failure and implement action to drive continuous improvement.

Recommendation 2

Review the approach to assistance handover considering, in particular, how using the Passenger Assist staff app and dashboard to communicate between stations can support the best outcomes for passengers who need assistance to travel.

Recommendation 3

Where operators identify that an equivalent or better service for passengers could be secured using an alternative to a phone call for handover, they should submit a proposal to ORR for consideration. We encourage operators to contact us early to discuss any planned proposals and our approval process.

Next Steps

ORR will arrange a workshop to discuss the findings and recommendations of this report with operators. We will ask the operators of stations that deliver the largest volumes of passenger assistance, including Network Rail, to submit to ORR by end of September 2025, the outcomes of the reviews described in recommendations 1 and 2, and whether they have plans to submit proposals for an alternative to the telephone handover protocol.  

We will continue to monitor passenger experiences of assistance through our ongoing passenger survey, and work with industry to improve the quality of data available on assistance outcomes. We want to see improvements in the reliability of assistance and expect to see industry taking actions in response to this report that contribute to that improvement.