Press releases

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 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.

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.

Train fare revenue for Great Britain’s rail network rose 8% to £11.5 billion between April 2024 and March 2025 when compared to the previous year, the latest statistics from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show. However, despite the number of passenger journeys approaching pre-pandemic levels at 1.7 billion, fare revenue continues to lag behind at 12% behind pre-pandemic levels.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has authorised significant upgrades to Ynyswen railway station in South Wales, which form part of the Core Valley Lines (CVL) transformation project. They will improve service capacity, accessibility, and deliver a more sustainable and efficient transport network for local communities.

Rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), has today (Thursday 30 October) approved Virgin Trains’ application for access to Temple Mills International depot. Access to Temple Mills is an important first step towards being able to operate cross border train services using the channel tunnel.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has made it mandatory for all rail operators to assess redress claims from passengers whose booked assistance failed, on a case-by-case basis. The change is detailed in an update to the regulator’s Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) Guidance.

Rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), today published new streamlined guidance for rail investors, to make it easier for third party investment to take place in rail infrastructure, contributing to economic growth.