As part of the control period 7 (CP7) passenger train performance reset (CP7 reset), we seek views on the measures to monitor and hold Network Rail to account in years 3 to 5 of the control period.
The performance of Great Britain’s railways matters. Passengers and freight users want reliable and punctual services. A railway that works well also supports the economy, for example, keeping people connected to jobs and keeping goods moving.
The industry must work together to deliver good train performance; the railway operates as a system and no single party can deliver good train performance in isolation.
The Government’s plans to reform the railway are, in significant part, aimed at improving the performance of the railway.
We are committed to supporting rail reform and will continue to refine our approach to align with industry changes.
CP7 reset
For passenger services in England & Wales, we set measures and trajectories for the first two years of CP7 – April 2024 to March 2026 - in our Periodic Review 2023 (PR23) final determination.
We set indicative trajectories for the final three years of CP7. We included a process to reset measures and trajectories after the second year given some of the challenges of forecasting performance in the medium term.
This consultation is the first step in that reset process. We are consulting on the passenger train performance measures that we will use to monitor and hold Network Rail to account in the final three years of CP7.
Our proposals
In PR23, we set a tiered framework of passenger train performance outcome measures, with a focus on whole-system ‘success measures’ and associated trajectories. These measures included On Time as the main measure of punctuality and Cancellations.
For years 3 to 5 of CP7, we propose to retain this overall framework but are consulting on the following targeted potential changes:
- Promoting a measure of Network Rail attributed delay as an additional success measure to strengthen clarity about what Network Rail (as the infrastructure manager) needs to contribute to the success of the railway for passengers; and
- Considering whether On Time (arriving within one minute of the scheduled arrival time) or Time to 3 (arriving within three minutes of the scheduled arrival time) should be our primary success measure for whole-industry punctuality in England & Wales.
Responding to this consultation
We welcome responses to the proposals and questions set out in out in this consultation. Please send responses by Friday 4 October 2024 to prm@orr.gov.uk.
We have made available a consultation proforma which we invite you to use.
Publishing your response
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We plan to publish all responses to this consultation on our website.
Should you wish for any information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that this may be subject to publication, or release to other parties or to disclosure, in accordance with the access to information regimes. These regimes are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Under the FOIA, there is a statutory code of practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this, if you are seeking confidentiality for information you are providing, please explain why. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information, we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on ORR.
If you are seeking to make a response in confidence, we would also be grateful if you would annex any confidential information, or provide a non-confidential summary, so that we can publish the non-confidential aspects of your response.
Any personal data you provide to us will be used for the purposes of this consultation and will be handled in accordance with our privacy notice which sets out how we comply with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
Consent
In responding to this consultation you consent to us:
- handling your personal data for the purposes of this consultation;
- publishing your response on our website (unless you have indicated to us that you wish for your response to be treated as confidential as set out above.)
Your consent to either of the above can be withdrawn at any time. Further information about how we handle your personal data and your rights is set out in our privacy notice.
Format of responses
So that we are able to apply web standards to content on our website, we would prefer that you email us your response either in Microsoft Word format or OpenDocument Text (.odt) format. ODT files have a fully open format and do not rely on any specific piece of software.
If you send us a PDF document, please:
- create it directly from an electronic word-processed file using PDF creation software (rather than as a scanned image of a printout); and
- ensure that the PDF's security method is set to no security in the document properties.