News

Passengers who rely on assistance when travelling with Northern Trains should see improvements to the service over time, after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) secured commitments from the operator to ensure staff receive disability awareness training and to provide a £550,000 additional package of measures.

The train, from Newcastle to London King’s Cross, derailed into the path of an oncoming freight train. Ten people lost their lives that day, including the drivers of both trains, and 82 were seriously injured.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), the rail regulator, has authorised Northumberland Park Station in North Tyneside, the fifth of six stations to open as part of the Northumberland Line project. Northumberland Park is set to open on Sunday 22 February. Bedlington Station, the final station on the line, is expected to be authorised and open in March 2026.

ORR spokesperson: “ORR has a good track record of getting the balance right in granting permission to new services and ensuring there is enough room on the rail network to recover when things go wrong.

We have published updated Guidance on Rail Retailing, following a public consultation in autumn 2025.

The Office of Rail and Road has today published its first annual benchmarking report on train and station operators’ delivery of passenger assistance. The findings highlight that while passengers are generally satisfied with the standard of assistance when it is delivered, delivery itself can be unreliable with 11% of passengers reporting that they received none of the assistance they booked in