Consultations

Here you’ll find all our consultations, both open and concluded, past policy, licence and access casework consultations. You’ll also find our response to consultations from other organisations.

A greater role for ORR regulating passenger franchisees in England and Wales

8 July 2014
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Start date: 22 December 2011 Closing date: 2 March 2012 This joint ORR and Department for Transport consultation sought views on the potential for an expanded role for ORR in respect of new passenger rail franchises in England and Wales. It set out areas where the Government believes there may be a case for ORR doing more in relation to the protection of passenger interests, in line with the

Revising railway safety regulations: Railway Safety (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1997, Railway Safety Regulations 1999 and Railway Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2001

8 July 2014
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In 2014, as part of the Government's 'Red Tape Challenge' to reduce unnecessary secondary legislation, we consulted on our proposals to revoke the Railway Safety (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1997, Railway Safety Regulations 1999 and Railway Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2001 (together ‘the current Regulations’) and replace them with a new set of regulations. The decision

Periodic review 2013 (PR13) consultations

1 July 2014

Content archived on 29 March 2024

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A list of our closed PR13 consultations in date order. Consultation on implementation of CP5 capacity charge for new open access operators Last updated: 1 Jul 2014 Consultation about our proposed approach to implement our decision on the capacity charge rates payable by new entrant open access operators (OAOs) during CP5. Capacity charge baselines for freight, open access passenger and charter

Consultation on implementation of CP5 capacity charge for new open access operators

16 May 2014

Content archived on 29 March 2024

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Date published: 16 May 2014 Closing date: 1 July 2014 Consultation about our proposed approach to implement our decision on the capacity charge rates payable by new entrant open access operators (OAOs) during CP5. In our final determination we made our decision on the capacity charge rates payable by new entrant open access operators (OAOs) during CP5. We said that: New entrant OAOs will pay CP4

Modification to the National Station Access Conditions 2013 (England & Wales) and National Station Access Conditions 2013 (Scotland)

8 May 2014
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Date published: 8 May 2014 Closing date: 4 July 2014 This consultation is now closed. We issued a formal consultation under Condition B6 of the National Station Access Conditions 2013 ("NSACs") to modify those Access Conditions to rectify a cross-referencing error that resulted from the PR13 review notice for stations. The consultation closed on 4 July 2014 and on 21 July 2014 we issued a formal

Capacity charge baselines for freight, open access passenger and charter operators

19 March 2014

Content archived on 29 March 2024

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In our Periodic review 2013: final determination of Network Rail's outputs and funding for 2014-19, we concluded that the capacity charge would be levied on freight, open access and charter operators in CP5 subject to a number of baselines, so that Network Rail would effectively receive a higher charge for traffic above certain thresholds as part of a year-end reconciliation or wash-up process.

Retail market review for selling tickets

19 February 2014
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The purpose of the review is to consider how current regulation and industry arrangements and practices within the retail market are facilitating choice and, in particular, promoting investment and innovation in the best interest of passengers. Stakeholder workshop ORR's stakeholder workshop for the review of the rail retail market took place on 8 May 2014. The note and presentation slides below

Capacity charge for franchise and open access passenger for CP5

14 January 2014
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Date published: 25 September 2013 Closing date: 30 September 2013 The purpose of this letter is to: make the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) aware of the legal advice we have received with respect to implementing forms of the capacity charge (including RDG 's proposed option); and update RDG and the industry on our further thinking on the capacity charge, with a refinement of our proposed option taking

Schedules 4 and 8 possessions and performance regimes

14 January 2014
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Reference: ORR/011/2012 Date published: 26 November 2012 Start date: 26 November 2012 Closing date: 28 January 2013 We are seeking views on a range of detailed issues relating to Schedules 4 and 8 – the compensation train operators receive for the financial impact of planned and unplanned rail service disruption attributable to Network Rail or other train operators. Schedule 4 compensates train

Financial issues for Network Rail in CP5

14 January 2014
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Reference: ORR/009/2012 Date published: 1 August 2012 Start date: 1 August 2012 Closing date: 26 September 2012 On 1 August 2012, we published our periodic review 2013 consultation on financial issues for Network Rail in CP5 . This consultation marked another important step in the 2013 periodic review of Network Rail's access charges (PR13). We consulted on detailed issues relating to the

Network Rail's output framework for 2014-19

14 January 2014
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Reference: ORR/010/2012 Date published: 1 August 2012 Start date: 1 August 2012 Closing date: 28 September 2012 On 1 August 2012 we published a consultation on what Network Rail will need to deliver in 2014-19 (control period 5). The consultation covers the 'output framework' – the outputs we will set Network Rail, the main indicators we will use to monitor the company and the enablers (measures

Variable usage charge and a freight specific charge

14 January 2014
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Reference: ORR/005/2012 Date published: 17 May 2012 Start date : 17 May 2012 Closing date: 10 August 2012 On 17 May 2012 we published our Periodic review 2013 consultation on the variable usage charge and a freight specific charge. The purpose of the consultation was to: consult on work undertaken to review the variable usage charge paid by both passenger and freight operators to recover the cost

Aligning incentives to improve efficiency

14 January 2014
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Reference: ORR/003/2012 Date published : 3 May 2012 Start date: 3 May 2012 Closing date: 12 July 2012 (extended from 28 June 2012 – see below) On 3 May 2012, we published a further consultation on the alignment of incentives between Network Rail and train operators to improve cost efficiency. This PR13 consultation provided an update on our position on the introduction of route-level efficiency

Incentives

14 January 2014
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Reference: ORR/020/2011 Date published: 14 December 2011 Start date: 14 December 2011 Closing date: 8 February 2012 On 14 December 2011, we published a consultation document on detailed issues and proposals relating to incentives as part of our work on PR13. This follows our first consultation document on PR13 which we published in May. The Rail Value for Money study highlighted a lack of

The potential for increased on-rail competition

14 January 2014
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Reference: ORR/017/2011 Date published: 4 October 2011 Start date: 4 October 2011 Closing date: 4 December 2011 This consultation asked for stakeholder views on the potential for increased on-rail competition. It forms part of our programme of work for the 2013 periodic review (PR13). During PR13 we have to make key decisions on the outputs that Network Rail should deliver and the levels of access

Establishing Network Rail's efficient expenditure

14 January 2014
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Reference: ORR/014/2011 Date published: 26 July 2011 Start date: 26 July 2011 Closing date: 14 October 2011 On 25 May 2011 we published our first consultation document on the periodic review 2013 (PR13). The document explains the context, process and timetable; sets out our proposed objective for PR13 and consults on a range of key issues relating to the approach we will take to determining

First PR13 consultation

14 January 2014
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Reference: ORR/013/2011 Date published: 25 May 2011 Start date: 25 May 2011 Closing date: 2 September 2011 A periodic review is a programme of work through which decisions are made on what outputs Network Rail should deliver and the levels of access charges payable by train operators and other sources of funding the company receives. PR13 will establish outputs and access charges/funding for

Consultation on connection contracts

13 January 2014
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Date published: 29 October 2013 Closing date: 31 January 2014 Connection contracts are formal agreements between parties who wish to connect their networks together. New connection contracts between Network Rail and other parties do not need specific approval by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) if they are covered by our general approval. This consultation invites views on how our model

Proposed changes to the station access conditions and to the independent station access conditions

13 January 2014
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Start date: 16 March 2011 End date: 8 June 2011 We have consulted on proposed modifications to the station access conditions (SACs) and to the independent station access conditions (ISACs) that: are designed to streamline and speed up the station change process; seek to enable and facilitate station change by providing a mechanism where financial compensation issues are addressed through a

Policy on variable usage charges for modified vehicles

13 January 2014
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Start date: 6 April 2011 End date: 20 May 2011 We have consulted on our policy regarding the variable usage charges applied to vehicles that have been modified to reduce track damage. The variable usage charge is set to reflect track wear and tear costs. It thereby incentivises train manufacturers, owners and operators to invest in track-friendly vehicles. In this consultation, we proposed to give

Schedule 4 sustained planned disruption - defined service group revenue values

13 January 2014
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Start date: 26 October 2010 End date: 5 April 2011 We consulted on the methodology and values for calculating defined service group revenue for each franchised train operator. The defined service group revenue is one benchmark used to identify whether an operator has experienced a period of sustained planned disruption (SPD), typically as a result of Network Rail's planned engineering activities