ORR Business Plan 2024-25

A safer railway 

Q1

• Convene an event to bring together senior leaders from track and train dutyholders to engage in the industry’s rail resilience capability

Q3 

• Deliver a strategic, structured and targeted intervention programme on Network Rail’s approach to maintaining the safety of assets, specifically focused on maintenance delivery activities (including ‘modernising maintenance’)
• Work with DfT to secure legislative changes following the Post Implementation Review of the Train Driving Licences and Certificates Regulations 2010

Q4 

• Deliver a strategic, structured and targeted intervention programme to assess the adequacy of industry’s risk management arrangements for operating during extreme weather
• Secure transfer to ORR of National Safety Authority (NSA) responsibilities for the UK half of the Channel Tunnel
• Review and influence industry’s new Platform Train Interface strategy
• Undertake a focused inspection programme to look at rail workers’ welding fumes exposure 
• Develop and deliver face-to-face engagement activities to drive improvements in health and safety risk management across the heritage sector
• Review outputs from the rail resilience capability event to develop future areas of work

Better rail customer service

Q1

• Consult on proposals to require operators to take passenger views into account when considering station staffing changes
• Report and consult on a review of our open access economic assessment methodology

Q2 and Q4

• Publish six-monthly data on ORR and industry’s compliance with sale of access and timetabling deadlines

Q3 

• Assess and report on the quality of passenger information for planned rail replacement services

Q4

• Develop a new approach to benchmarking operators’ performance on provision of assistance to passengers
• Conclude and publish the outcome of the review of the Retail Information Code of Practice
• Conduct annual review of Network Statements for Network Rail, Eurotunnel, HS1, the Heathrow Airport Link and Core Valley Lines
   

Value for money from the railway

Q1

• Publish open letter on conclusion of PR23 and outline future CP7 work
• Publish final report on railway station catering market study

Q2 

• Publish Annual Assessment of Network Rail
• Publish Annual Assessment of HS1
• Produce draft determination for HS1 (PR24)

Q3 

• Publish Network Rail Annual Efficiency and Finance Assessment
• Publish Annual Assessment of Network Rail’s stakeholder engagement
• Publish Annual Rail Safety statistics
• Publish Annual Rail Industry Finance statistics
• Publish Statistics on Annual Estimates of Station Usage

Q4 

• Produce final determination for HS1 (PR24)
• Consult on approach to charges for CP8

Better highways

Q1 

• Carry out Efficiency Review of National Highways’ Strategic Business Plan for RIS3 
• Quality assure National Highways’ annual smart motorways safety update report 
• Publish the outcome of our investigation into National Highways’ performance, delivery

Q2

• Publish our Annual Assessment of National Highways’ performance

Q3

• Publish regional benchmarking of National Highways’ performance

Q4 

• Publish our third Annual Assessment of Safety Performance on the Strategic Road Network 
• Refresh our policy on how we will hold National Highways to account for the third road period (RP3)

Our people and performance

Q1 

• Provide risk management training for ORR colleagues

Q2 

• Provide fraud awareness training for ORR colleagues 
• Introduce people information dashboards for managers
• Complete the first cycle of our rolling 12-month Cyber Security Plan

Q3 

• Hold an ORR business insight day in partnership with Access Aspiration
• Revise ORR procurement policy and procedures to comply with new procurement legislation 
• Deliver bystander intervention training 
• Evaluate and benchmark organisational culture via a culture audit

Q4 

• Finalise ORR’s new 3-year Technology Strategy