Regulator to cut charges passenger and freight trains pay to use HS1

30 September 2024

ORR has proposed lower charges for passenger trains which use the High Speed 1 line from London St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel, and halving charges to freight, in its Draft Determination of HS1 Ltd’s spending plans, published today.

The Draft Determination sets out ORR’s view of HS1 Ltd’s five-year spending plans for the high speed line, from 2025 to 2030. ORR was able to identify specific areas in the company’s spending plans where further improvements can be made, resulting in savings to passenger and freight train operators.

In its detailed review, ORR says that HS1 Ltd has produced a good 5-year plan that showed improvement from the plan for the previous five year control period, and highlights successes that HS1 Ltd has achieved in the current control period, 2020-2025.

The successes include improvements to the way the company maintains and renews its track assets using more detailed asset data, which ORR called for in its last review of the company’s plans, in 2020. ORR is calling for HS1 Ltd to take a similar approach to other assets – such as its signalling, and the lifts and escalators at its stations, so that those assets are maintained as efficiently as possible now, and into the future.

ORR has also reviewed the costs for stations on the line for the first time (previous reviews were conducted by the Department for Transport), including St Pancras, and has identified opportunities for improving the way the stations are managed, to reduce their costs.

Feras Alshaker, Director, Planning and Performance at ORR, said:

"The High Speed 1 line is a vital connection between the UK and Continental Europe, and makes a crucial contribution to the UK economy, supporting growth. It is important that it continues to be a resilient, high performing network for both passengers and freight users.

"The detailed scrutiny and challenge we’ve applied to HS1 Ltd’s plans should see the costs of operating on the line reduce significantly, giving savings for both international and domestic operators over the next five years, with benefits for passengers and freight users."

Notes to editors

Periodic review of HS1 Ltd 2024: draft determination
1. Supporting annexes: PR24 draft determination
2. Periodic review of HS1 Ltd 2024: executive summary from DAC Beachcroft's report on the contractual basis for cost allocation between passenger operators on HS1 Ltd
3. Periodic review of HS1 Ltd 2024: revised Passenger Access Terms
4. Periodic review of HS1 Ltd 2024: revised Freight Access Terms
5. Periodic review of HS1 Ltd 2024: revised passenger framework agreements
About the periodic review process:
1. The periodic review 2024 (PR24) of HS1 Ltd covers funding for the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030, also known as control period four (CP4).
About the HS1 Network:
1. The HS1 network is a 109km high-speed rail line that connects London St Pancras through Kent to the Channel Tunnel.
2. There are four stations on the line: London St Pancras, Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International.
3. The network is used by domestic SouthEastern ‘Javelin’ services between London and Kent and within Kent; and Eurostar passenger trains, as well as freight operations heading to and from the Channel Tunnel.