News

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

After two decades at the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and seven years as Chief Executive, John Larkinson has announced his decision to leave ORR at the end of April 2026.

London Liverpool Street is Great Britain’s busiest railway station for the third year running with almost 100 million entries and exits, the Office of Rail and Road has confirmed today. Elton and Orston in Nottinghamshire is once again the least used station with 68 entries and exits.