ORR is responsible for holding Network Rail to account against the conditions in its licence, which includes the requirement to produce the timetable.
ORR monitors industry compliance with timetable production timescales by gathering data from Network Rail and train operators on key milestones in the Network Code.
Meeting timetable production milestones allows robust timetables to be produced on time, providing certainty to passengers and freight. Monitoring any significant changes in train operator variation requests indicates the stability of the timetable as it approaches publication.
Changes close to or later than 12 weeks prior to the timetable coming into operation are of particular interest because operators have a commitment to open advance booking for passengers at the 12 week point.
For details of how the rail industry produces timetables, please see our report on the timetable development process.
Rail industry compliance with timetable production milestones
This report uses management information data on Network Rail and operators' compliance with timetable production outputs. The data is monitored and analysed during the industry process of producing a timetable for passenger and freight operators.
Key messages, data tables and charts will be made available here after the main two timetable changes in May and December each year.
If you have any questions or feedback, please contact stationsanddepots@orr.gov.uk
View the dashboard, hosted in PowerBI.
Latest findings
Our report published on 23 July 2024 found:
- almost all operators are submitting their proposed new timetables (“bidding”) in line with the calendar milestones set by Network Rail
- for the December 2023 and June 2024 timetables, the milestones were later than the Network Code milestones. This meant some production processes were conducted later, shortening the time available to communicate timetables to passengers and operators
- Network Rail is providing operators with their draft timetables in line with the agreed milestones
- a total of 1,935 Train Operator Variation Requests (TOVRs) were made in the 26 weeks before the June 2024 timetable came into operation, compared to 1,189 for December 2023
- 87% of TOVRs for June 2024 were requested by freight operators, and most freight operator TOVRs were made less than 12 weeks prior to the timetable going live.
- we (and industry) expect freight operators to have a high number of TOVRS because of their business model which relies on identifying and bidding for unused capacity in the base timetable. Nonetheless, TOVRs introduce complexity in finalising the timetable
- of the passenger operators, TransPennine Express and ScotRail had the highest number of TOVRs for the June 2024 timetable change. These two operators also had more TOVRs than other passenger operators for the December 2023 timetable change
- passenger operators continue to make a significant proportion of their TOVRs in the last 12 weeks before the timetable change:
- for June 2024, 163 passenger operator TOVRs were made within 12 weeks of the timetable change (68% of the total)
- for December 2023, 127 passenger operator TOVRs were made within 12 weeks of the timetable change (77% of the total)