Press releases

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has authorised the new Newsham railway station ahead of its expected public opening on 17 March. The new station will provide improved connectivity as part of the Northumberland Line project.

Network Rail has today been fined £3.41m and ordered to pay costs of £43,096.39 after pleading guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which followed an investigation and prosecution by industry regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). 

Network Rail has today been fined £3.75m and ordered to pay costs of £175,000 after pleading guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which followed an investigation and prosecution by industry regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

Our survey, which asks passengers to share their experiences of receiving a train fare penalty or having been prosecuted, closes on 31 January.

The Office of Rail and Road announced today that it is directing HS1 Ltd to lower its charges for passenger and freight train operating companies to use the high speed rail line from London to the Channel Tunnel, from April 2025.

The Office of Rail and Road believes good progress has been made over the past year in the quality of information provided about planned rail replacement bus services, but concerns remain with the passenger experience during the actual journey.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is asking passengers to complete a short questionnaire to share their experiences of being penalised for travelling by train, either for travelling without a ticket at all or without a valid ticket.

The Office of Rail and Road is asking for views on a new annual assessment, to be launched in 2025, that will rate the performance of how train companies provide assistance to disabled passengers.

Following ORR calling out its poor performance on reliability of its assistance to disabled passengers, train operator Northern has now provided the rail regulator with an acceptable action plan that sets out how they will improve passenger assistance.

The latest statistics from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show that train fare revenue between April 2023 and March 2024 rose by 14% to £10.4 billion compared to the previous twelve months, but at a slower rate than passenger journeys, which rose 16%. This is partly because passengers are making shorter journeys overall.