Press releases

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and the rail industry are working together to improve passenger information.

The non-mainline heritage rail sector has taken steps to improve how it manages safety across its railways and has been praised by the Office of Rail and Road for how it has managed the reopening of its railways since the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the tragic Stonehaven incident, Network Rail has announced it is to inspect high-risk trackside slopes across Britain and the government has also asked Network Rail to review its resilience to, and management of, extreme weather.

HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser CBE, said: "We are saddened by today's incident and our thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected. ORR Inspectors are on site at Stonehaven, assisting in the preliminary investigation.

Highways England has delivered the majority of its commitments and made good progress over the first road period but the programme set out for major improvements was too optimistic.

More needs to be done to tackle the impacts of climate change on the railway, which has seen risks increase over the last year, according to a new report published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) today.

This year the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has identified and responded to almost 40 cases where the conduct of a train company in Great Britain was potentially harming the interests of passengers.

Network Rail Scotland has saved more than £46 million in the first year of the new control period 6 (CP6) as it looks to deliver £347 million efficiency savings over five years. Meanwhile passenger train performance was below target, according to the 2019-20 annual assessment of Network Rail published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) today (2 July).

Network Rail has saved more than £385 million in the first year of the new control period 6 (CP6) as it looks to deliver £3.5 billion of efficiency savings over the next five years, however passenger and freight performance varied by region, according to figures contained in the 2019-20 annual assessment of Network Rail published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) today (2 July).

Passengers will be able to claim compensation more easily when their train is delayed under a new licence condition proposed today by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).