Much of ORR’s business-as-usual work involves providing services to those in the industry or others with an interest in our work. As an organisation that is largely funded, directly or indirectly, by the public, it is essential that we publish service standards as part of our commitment to transparency.
In 2025-26 we engaged with the rail sector to review our key rail industry-facing service standards to check they are both relevant and challenging, and whether other standards would be more useful. This has resulted in some amendments to existing standards and several new standards added for 2026-27. Further information can be found in A review into our rail industry-facing service standards.
| Provision | Standard |
|---|---|
| Issue new or revised train driving licences | 100% of applications decided within one month of receipt of all necessary documentation |
| ROGS safety certificates and authorisations (Railway and Other Guided Transport Systems Regulations) | 100% decided within four months of receiving completed application 100% of authorisations (including exemptions) to be published within five working days 100% of expired authorisations (including exemptions) to be removed from our website within five working days 100% of exemptions to be processed within four months of receiving a completed application |
| Report to the Rail Accident Investigations Branch (RAIB) on the progress of its recommendations | 100% response to RAIB recommendations within one year of associated RAIB report being published |
| Efficient processing of interoperability authorisations | 100% of responses within 21 days of receiving complete submission |
| Approve the Accessible Travel Policy of a new licence holder | 100% approved within four weeks of receipt of all relevant information |
| Track, station and depot access applications | 100% decided within six weeks of receipt of all relevant information |
| Track, station and depot access appeals | 100% decided within six weeks of receipt of all relevant information |
| Operator licence and licence exemption applications | 100% decided within two months of receipt of all relevant information |
| Market studies | 100% of interim market study reports published within six months of launch of market study 100% of final market study reports published within 12 months of launch of market study |
| Competition complaints | 100% of competition complaints will receive an initial response within 10 working days of receipt |
| Freedom of Information requests | 100% of requests for information responded to within 20 working days of receipt* |
| General enquiries and complaints, including adjustment to account for cases investigated | 95% of enquiries and complaints responded to within one month of receipt |
| Data access rights requests | 100% of all data access requests responded to within one month of receipt |
| Prompt payment of suppliers’ invoices | 90% paid within five days of valid invoice 100% paid within 30 days of valid invoice |
| Publication of the four accredited official statistics quarterly and biannual statistical releases | 100% published within four months of the quarter or half-year end |
| Proactive, preventative regulatory interventions | 50% of inspector time spent on proactive, preventative regulatory interventions |
*includes responding to the requestor to indicate a time extension beyond 20 days will be necessary, for example to consider the application of a public interest test.