Rail professionals

By John Gillespie, Deputy Director of Policy, Strategy and Planning, Railway Safety.

Our newly-published Business Plan sets out our priorities for the next year. We have listened to feedback and contributions from the industry, consumer representative groups and from Network Rail and Highways England, and this is reflected in our priorities and programme of work for 2017.

Late last month the ORR Board headed to Cardiff, where we met some of you from Wales and Western England. At Newport Docks we heard about the challenges for rail freight and road access, and the implications for the planned M4 diversion.

In the middle of storm Doris, ORR Inspector Peter Darling visited Network Rail’s Rail Innovation & Development Centre (RIDC) test track – usually known as Old Dalby test track – in Leicestershire.

Daniel Brown, Director of Strategy and Policy, blogs about how we work with our French counterparts to regulate the Channel Tunnel.

We begin this month’s edition of our newsletter with the announcement that Joanna Whittington has been confirmed in her appointment as Chief Executive Officer at ORR following an open public competition. The appointment is effective immediately.