Sought feedback on our discussion document 'Developing ORR's process for GBR appeals'.
Consultation outcome
4 June 2026
In December 2025 we published a discussion document setting out some of the choices that we consider we will need to make in developing our approach to handling future appeals. We received 18 written responses to our discussion document.
Additionally, on 13 and 20 January 2026 we convened two roundtables with industry stakeholders to discuss key issues relating to the design of our future appeals process.
We've published the 18 written responses and a summary of all responses and next steps.
We will continue to develop our policy as the Bill progresses through Parliament, considering this feedback.
December 2025 consultation
Date of publication: 3 December 2025
Closing date: 6 February 2026
The document was produced to:
- Share our understanding of the proposal to establish ORR as an appeals body for Great British Railways (GBR)’s decisions on capacity allocation, access and charging decisions.
- Provide industry with information about how ORR intends to approach developing a GBR appeals process.
- Provide an opportunity for industry to provide comments on our emerging thinking, which we will use to inform our draft appeals policy.
We expected this discussion document to be of interest to:
- Freight operators
- Infrastructure managers
- Local and regional government
- Open access operators
- Publicly funded (franchised) operators
- Rail funders and service specifiers
- Station and facility operators
Publishing your response Collapse accordion Open accordion
We plan to publish all responses to this consultation on our website.
If you want any information in your response to be treated as confidential, please state this clearly and explain the reasons why, for us to consider. If your response does contain information you would like to be treated as confidential, please include it separately where possible or provide a summary that does not contain confidential details so that we can publish the non-confidential parts.
Please be aware that all information sent to us may still be subject to disclosure in accordance with the information access rights granted by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).
If we receive a request for the disclosure of information you have sent us that we have not published, we will aim to contact you so that we can take your views into account, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on ORR.
Use of your personal data
The legal basis for processing your personal data is that it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the exercise of an official function vested in ORR.
Any personal data you provide to us will be used for the purposes of this consultation and will be handled in accordance with our privacy notice which sets out how we comply with the UK GDPR and the DPA.
We will publish your consultation response, withholding or redacting confidential information where appropriate. We will not publish your personal data.
ORR staff may have access to your information for the duration of the consultation process. This will be no longer than a year’s duration and all information submitted in response to a consultation which has not been published on our website, will be deleted.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
We may use AI to analyse consultation responses and identify key themes. Your name and contact details will be removed prior to the use of AI. The data will not be used to train or improve third party AI models and will remain under the control of ORR.