News & Blogs

Following an investigation by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has prosecuted Network Rail for allowing trains to travel at more than 100mph over a badly storm damaged viaduct.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has instructed South Western Railway (SWR) to comply with its legal duty in ensuring that people using wheelchairs can board and alight from trains at Liphook station.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has today opened a market study into the supply of rail signalling systems to ensure the signalling supply chain is fair and competitive.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has warned train operators that further action is needed to fulfil their obligations of providing passengers with adequate timetable information.

Rail passenger journeys in Great Britain fell to the lowest levels last seen in the mid-nineteenth century, official statistics from the Office of Rail and Road have revealed.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has today announced new safeguarding measures to improve reliability of over a million requests for passenger assistance received each year on Britain’s railways.

The Office of Rail and Road’s new accessible travel guidance has been published today.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and the rail industry are working together to improve passenger information.

The non-mainline heritage rail sector has taken steps to improve how it manages safety across its railways and has been praised by the Office of Rail and Road for how it has managed the reopening of its railways since the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the tragic Stonehaven incident, Network Rail has announced it is to inspect high-risk trackside slopes across Britain and the government has also asked Network Rail to review its resilience to, and management of, extreme weather.

HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser CBE, said: "We are saddened by today's incident and our thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected. ORR Inspectors are on site at Stonehaven, assisting in the preliminary investigation.

Highways England has delivered the majority of its commitments and made good progress over the first road period but the programme set out for major improvements was too optimistic.

More needs to be done to tackle the impacts of climate change on the railway, which has seen risks increase over the last year, according to a new report published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) today.

This year the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has identified and responded to almost 40 cases where the conduct of a train company in Great Britain was potentially harming the interests of passengers.

Network Rail Scotland has saved more than £46 million in the first year of the new control period 6 (CP6) as it looks to deliver £347 million efficiency savings over five years. Meanwhile passenger train performance was below target, according to the 2019-20 annual assessment of Network Rail published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) today (2 July).

Network Rail has saved more than £385 million in the first year of the new control period 6 (CP6) as it looks to deliver £3.5 billion of efficiency savings over the next five years, however passenger and freight performance varied by region, according to figures contained in the 2019-20 annual assessment of Network Rail published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) today (2 July).

Passengers will be able to claim compensation more easily when their train is delayed under a new licence condition proposed today by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is urging people to stop taking unnecessary risks around the railway as figures from Network Rail show an average of 34 incidents a day.

Rail passenger journeys in Great Britain saw a dramatic fall towards the end of the quarter ending in March of this year following the impact of the coronavirus, as people heeded government advice against all unnecessary travel.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has today published its conclusions from its investigation into Network Rail's (NR) impact on poor performance in NR's North West and Central (NW&C) region.

Renown Consultants Limited has today been fined £450,000 alongside £300,000 in costs after being convicted under the Health and Safety at Work Act for failing to ensure that two of its workers were sufficiently rested to work and travel safely.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has published its final report outlining its recommendation that there is insufficient justification for recommending the CMA undertake a review of remedies put in place by the Competition Commission to address issues in the rolling stock market.

In January 2020, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) opened a formal study into the UK signalling market in order to explore whether there were any competition issues affecting these important supply chains, and to determine if any action was needed as a result.

Two men died in a road traffic accident as a result of their employer, Renown Consultants Limited, failing to ensure that they were sufficiently rested to work and travel safely.