The recent survey showed that 18% of passengers who booked assistance at a Northern-managed station and responded to our survey reported they did not receive any.
ORR wrote to Northern in July, but Northern’s response did not reassure the rail regulator that it understands the causes of its poor performance, nor has robust plans in place to secure improvements, nor has made appropriate progress against previously planned actions.
As a result, ORR has today requested Northern to submit an improvement plan for how it delivers assistance to disabled passengers, setting out planned actions and explaining how it will make a difference to how Northern improves its reliability in providing assistance.
The rail regulator will also now meet senior industry figures and constructively challenge Northern as it develops its plan, to help ensure this delivers real change for passengers.
Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform, said: