Approval of Accessible Travel Policies (ATPs) for new franchises or new operators

New operators must obtain approval for their Accessible Travel Policy prior to a licence being granted. Drafts should be submitted to the ORR as early as possible for initial comment and at least ten weeks before the intended start of operations. ORR will aim to approve the documents at least two weeks prior to the start of operations.

The approval process takes approximately three months to complete and includes a four week consultation with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, Transport Focus and/or London TravelWatch.

Once we have given our approval to an ATP we will publish a decision letter summarising areas of good practice and innovation, alongside a copy of the final ATP.

Accessible Travel Policies must be reviewed by operators annually from the date of approval, or more frequently to ensure that they are as up-to-date as possible where there is a change in policy or procedure. ORR can also require the licence holder to carry out a review of the ATP or any part of it or the manner in which it has been implemented, with a view to determining whether any change should be made to it.

Operators must submit their ATP to the ORR for review at least six weeks before the anniversary of the date on which the ATP was initially approved. If the operator is proposing significant or material changes to their ATP, ORR will undertake a review and approve the revised ATP. Significant or material changes are where policy or procedure changes may have a significant impact, positive or negative, on a number of passengers. ORR will issue an approval letter to the operator, to which will be annexed a copy of the approved ATP. This will also be published on our website.

If the proposed changes are not material or significant, the operator must confirm this to ORR with a brief summary of the proposed changes. In these circumstances, ORR will not need to undertake a formal review and approve the changes.

Following publication of the revised ATP guidance, operators must submit their ATPs to ORR by the end of 2019 in accordance with the schedule of ATP submissions below. Until we approve its ATP, an operator is obliged to comply with the commitments set out in its approved Disabled People’s Protection Policy.

We also require licence holders to provide us with a core set of data, in order to demonstrate that they are complying with their obligations to disabled passengers and managing their DPPP in accordance with published policies and procedures.