Economic regulation

All lane running (ALR) motorways are relatively new to Britain and understandably there are questions to understand their safety relative to conventional motorways.

In this episode, the Rail and Road Pod looks at how the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) holds Network Rail to account for its performance and efficiency.

Today the Department for Transport, Network Rail and the Office for Rail and Road are officially launching the Better Value Rail (BVR) Toolkit.

The Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) annual assessment of Highways England finds the company hit its performance targets in 2020-21, the first year (April 1 2020 to March 31 2021) of the second road period, but ORR warns of the need to address delays to some key projects and subsequent forecast underspends.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has today published its 2020-21 annual assessments of rail safety in Great Britain and of Network Rail’s performance.

The Office of Rail and Road’s annual assessment of Network Rail Scotland’s performance in 2020-21 highlights a difficult year for the region. The derailment of a ScotRail service at Carmont, near Stonehaven, in which three people died, tragically demonstrates the need for Network Rail to make sure that railway assets are resilient to the impacts of extreme weather and climate change.

The Office of Rail and Road’s annual assessment of Network Rail’s performance shows the Wales and Western region was able to complete upgrade and renewal work despite the pandemic. The regulator also highlights the need for improvements to track worker safety and the examination of structures, in the region.

The Office of Rail and Road’s annual assessment of Network Rail shows a renewed focus by the North West & Central region towards improving punctuality and reliability. And despite the pandemic, the region was able to complete upgrade and renewal work.

The Office of Rail and Road’s annual assessment of Network Rail shows safety performance in the Eastern region has been good as it continues to work towards improving the safety of its workforce. The region has also managed its infrastructure well with fewer failures on the network in the last year.