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Research and Reports

A database of documents and reports released by industry bodies. You can download the document by clicking on its title, and can filter reports by author or subject. If you have a report you would like to submit to the Rail Hub, please email [email protected].

 

  • Annual Report of Health and Safety on Britain’s Railways 2021-22

    14/07/2022
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    A marked improvement in track worker safety is the highlight of this year’s ORR annual report on health and safety. But against this backdrop, the regulator “remains concerned” over the impact on safety of the proposed 20% headcount reduction at Network Rail. Ensuring that the industry remains focused on the basics of health and safety management, as it prepares for reform and substantial change, is a key message. The report also highlights Britain’s standing of having one of the safest railways in Europe, and that risk on the railway is at an all-time low.

  • Annual Report of Health and Safety on Britain’s Railways

    13/07/2021
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Britain’s rail industry responded extremely well to the Coronavirus pandemic, according to the ORR. The regulator says the entire sector reacted quickly and worked collaboratively to respond to significant challenges posed by the pandemic to keep people and goods on the move. However, the ORR warns that trackworker safety must remain a top priority following the deaths of three rail employees in 2020-21. Meanwhile, the fatal derailment at Carmont after heavy rainfall last August also highlights the need for a continued focus on safety management and for Network Rail to effectively manage its infrastructure, with particular focus on earthworks and drainage. On performance and reliability, the ORR says there has been an improvement of 15 percentage points, as fewer trains and passengers contributed to 80% of trains arriving on time nationally. It wants NR to use the data it has gathered on the relationship between network usage, capacity and performance, and a ‘whole system approach’ to demonstrate how these activities will lead to actual improvements in punctuality. Finally, the ORR finds that NR is on track to deliver CP6 efficiency targets, having delivered £710 million worth of savings in 2020-21 against a target of £570m. However, it warns that risk funds are lower than planned, particularly in Scotland, and that NR now needs a clear plan for how future financial risks will be managed.

  • Passenger rail usage – 2020-21 Quarter 4

    03/06/2021
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Restrictions imposed because of the Coronavirus pandemic caused annual passenger numbers to fall to their lowest level since at least 1872 (when records began). Figures released by the Office of Rail and Road confirm that just 388 million passenger journeys were made from April 1 2020-March 31 2021, compared with more than 1.7 billion in the previous 12 months. With passenger numbers at just 22% of pre-pandemic levels, revenue plummeted to £1.9 billion, compared with £10.4bn in 2019-20. TfL Rail, London Overground and c2c were the only operators to reach at least 30% of the number of journeys recorded on their network in 2019-20. Meanwhile, ScotRail (14.9%) and TfW Rail (15.8%) recorded the lowest levels of relative usage among franchised operators.

  • Estimates of station usage 2019-20

    01/04/2021
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    London Waterloo remains Britain’s busiest station for the 16th year running with an estimated 86.9 million entries and exits between April 2019 and March 2020. This was 7.3 million less than the previous year due to the impact of strike action and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of Britain’s 2,567 stations the least used was Berney Arms in Norfolk with 42 entries and exits. Station usage fell by 90% in 2019-20 due to the lines serving the station being closed as part of the Wherry Lines resignalling project.

  • Annual Report of Health and Safety Performance on Britain’s Railways 2019/20

    14/07/2020
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Network Rail’s plans to address climate change and increase resilience to extreme weather are not keeping pace with the frequency and severity of weather events, warns the ORR. In its annual health and safety report ORR says that although safety on Britain’s railways has improved over the last year, the number of earthwork failures and trains striking objects increased almost four-fold in 2019-20 compared to the year before. Improvements include in level crossing safety, with just two deaths over the year (the same as 2018-29), while the risk of Signals Passed at Danger has levelled out. Two key Improvement Notices were issued to NR to improve track worker safety following the deaths of four rail workers in 2019-20

  • Annual assessment of Network Rail April 2019-March 2020

    02/07/2020
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Network Rail has saved more than £385 million in the first year of CP6, according to the ORR’s annual assessment of the infrastructure manager. NR is tasked with delivering total efficiency savings of £3.5bn by the end of CP6 in 2024, and the regulator says it beat its target for 2019-20. Meanwhile, passenger performance in terms of delays attributed to NR improved in the Scotland and Wales & Western regions (although the former was still below target). Performance was also said to be good on the Southern region. However, it was lower than target in the North West & Central and Eastern regions. Freight performance also suffered, with a Freight Delivery Metric of 92.8% compared with a target of 94%.

  • Passenger Rail Usage 2019-20 Q1 Statistical Release

    01/10/2019
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    he number of passenger journeys on Britain’s railways in the first quarter of 2019-20 (April-June 2019) rose by 2.4% compared with the corresponding period in 2018-19. The latest figures published by the Office of Rail and Road on October 3 reveal that 493 million journeys were made, and that passenger numbers continue to grow across all sectors. The number of journeys made using season tickets decreased by 7.5 million (down 5%), which is the lowest Q1 total since 2010-11 and represents a market share of 32.5%.

  • Annual Health and Safety Report

    16/07/2019
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    he Office of Rail and Road says that Britain’s railway remains one of the safest in the world, but that standards must not be allowed to slip. The ORR’s latest annual report of health and safety shows that the risk of harm to passengers rose in 2018-19, with 13 people dying (excluding suicides) compared with six the previous year. Meanwhile, the deaths of two railway workers in 2018-19 - plus the two track workers killed near Port Talbot on July 3 - further emphasises the need for industry to improve its approach to delivering and planning vital works. The report also identifies three targets for greater industry focus: coping with increased pressure on the system from new rolling stock; supporting people by giving greater recognition to occupational and mental health; and properly resourcing and managing the introduction of technological developments.

  • UK rail industry financial information 2016-17

    24/01/2018
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    At £19.5bn the cost of running the railways in 2016/2017 rose 2.7%, the Office of Rail and Road reports, while passenger receipts rose 1.1% to £9.7bn. Government’s contribution fell 0.7% to £3.4bn, with the Department for Transport also lending £6.1bn to Network Rail. NR’s costs rose 6.5% to £7.6bn, largely because debt financing costs rose by 26%; the organisation spent £1.8bn on this. Enhancement work accounted for £3.4bn.

  • Passenger Rail Service Complaints 2017-18 Q1 Statistical Release

    31/10/2017
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Passenger complaints in the first quarter of 2017/18 rose over 3% against the previous year when measured by 100,000 journeys, according to the ORR. Although the greatest percentage of complaints (21%) were still about punctuality/reliability, this fell 4 percentage points over last year, while complaints about ticket buying facilities rose 2pp and measured 8% of the total. Also up were complaints about smart cards, and various aspects of delay compensation. In total there were 28.1 complaints per 100,000 journeys.

  • Measuring Up

    26/07/2017
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    The ORR supports the introduction of a Rail Ombudsman following research that shows complaints handling on the railway must improve. Overall customer service within TOCs is making progress with better passenger information and delay compensation, but complaints handling is lagging behind. This report focuses on: ticket selling, how well companies provide passenger information, the support provided for people who need help on their journey and complaints and compensation handling.

  • ORR’s Annual Health and Safety Report of Performance on Britain’s Railways: 2016-17

    19/07/2017
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    HM Chief Inspector of Railways and Director of Railway Safety Ian Prosser says that it is important the catch-up of deferred renewals is achieved in Control Period 6. Safety performance has remained broadly consistent with previous years, with the lowest level of harm to passengers and public ever seen on Britain’s mainline trains and stations when data is normalised (considering the rise in passenger journeys).

  • Network Rail Monitor Quarters 3-4 of Year 2 of CP5 18 October 2015 to 31 March 2016

    05/07/2016
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    The Office of Rail and Road presents a mixed picture of Network Rail’s performance in the period measured - a particular positive being the zero industry-caused deaths of passengers or workforce on its infrastructure. The regulator describes this as a “notable achievement”. However, it also notes a variation in levels of management maturity. Train service performance “has not returned to targeted levels”, and the ORR judges that NR also underperformed against its budget on renewals and enhancements. Asset performance continued to improve, however, and the ORR says the company is “taking reasonable steps to remedy the causes” of the problems with enhancements that led to the decision on it having breached its licence last October.

  • Network Rail Monitor Scotland Quarters 3-4 of Year 2 of CP5 18 October 2015 to 31 March 2016

    05/07/2016
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    The Office of Rail and Road rated the ‘change management arrangements’ for the merger of Network Rail’s Scotland Route with Abellio ScotRail as “excellent” - and said this is the only case of that judgment this year. Asset performance, it said, “continued to improve”. Other aspects of the regulator’s evaluation of NR’s performance in Scotland were less positive - it judged that the infrastructure owner would have missed train service performance targets even without such factors as the closure of the Forth Road Bridge. It also calculated that NR underperformed against its own budgets on renewals and enhancements.

  • ORR’s Annual Health and Safety Report of Performance on Britain’s Railways: 2015-16

    01/07/2016
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    With no workforce fatalities for the first time ever, the Office of Rail and Road says the railways “are currently the safest they’ve ever been” but cautions that there “is still room for improvement”. The ORR’s annual safety report notes that this was the ninth year in a row without any train accident deaths. It also cites improvements in management of risk at level crossings - more than 1,000 of which have now been closed since 2009/2010. However, the regulator identifies further challenges - of “managing growth and change”, “developing, maintaining and renewing a safe and sustainable infrastructure”, “translating strategic intent into practical delivery on the ground”, and it says “there remains more for the industry to do to improve the sector’s management of occupational health”.

  • Measuring Up - Annual Rail Consumer Report 2016

    01/06/2016
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    The first of the ORR’s reports on this topic that covers the regulator’s consumer side, this aims to “increase transparency, demonstrate good practice and highlight areas for improvement.” Dubbed an interim report, the 123-page paper breaks its findings into those on train operators and those covering Network Rail. The TOC section is produced to a common template and covers the handling of complaints, access and assistance, information during disruption, and making the experience of ticket machines better.

  • Passenger Rail Usage 2015-16 Q1 Statistical Release

    01/10/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Passenger journeys continued to increase in the first quarter of 2015/16, rising to 412.5m - a rise of 4.7% on the previous year. Passenger revenue climbed 6.6% to £2.3bn, while timetabled train kilometres rose 0.5% to 133 million. The figures are contained in the latest figures from the Office of Rail and Road. Season ticket journeys showed the highest growth at 5.7% and at 169.9m accounted for 41.2% of franchised passenger journeys. Some 70% of all journeys were made in London and the South East. Journeys on franchised services accounted for 99.9% of the total.

  • ORR Health and Safety Annual Report for 2014-15

    21/07/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    The Office of Rail and Road is looking for “some meaningful improvements in occupational health and safety management”. That is one of the key areas the latest ORR health and safety report names, as it seeks to keep pushing safety as railway use continues to climb. Also on the safety watchdog’s radar is pushing Network Rail to catch up on infrastructure renewal. Of particular risk areas, the ORR once again names familiar subjects such as signals passed at danger or level crossings, but also others such as drainage and electrical safety. This year also marks a particular milestone for Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate, which is now part of ORR: the first Chief Inspecting Officer was appointed 175 years ago in 1840. “The importance of why we were created still remains central to our current role - to ensure Britain’s railways protect the health and safety of its passengers, workforce and the public,” says HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser. - TS

  • On the Move: exploring attitudes to road and rail travel in Britain

    16/07/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Travel will increase, but there’s already a shift from the car that is likely to be long lasting. Those are some of the conclusions in this report from the Office of Rail and road and the Independent Transport Commission. The latest On the Move follows an initial report in 2012 - the idea is to help the Department for Transport forecast better, and also to aid policy makers. The report finds that various things - including being able to use new technology on public transport - are driving the changes, but younger men are particularly likely to shift from the car, and business travellers are making the biggest shift of all. Other factors affecting patterns of travel include the move to commuting over longer distances in order to combat high housing costs, changes in patterns of working, and a desire to travel more. Also considered were the factors of an ageing population, and of net inward migration. Although different sectors of society display different attitudes and habits on transport, the report argues that across “almost all groups the research indicates that journeys are increasingly being split across different modes, and this suggests that the need for a fully integrated transport system is stronger than ever.” That, plus catering for increasing demand, are likely to be the main challenges.

  • Network Rail Monitor Quarters 3-4 of Year 1 of CP5 12 October 2014 to 31 March 2015

    12/06/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Network Rail has missed targets in the first year of CP5. Overhead line renewals are 77% behind schedule, signalling renewals are 63% behind, and track renewal is 7% behind. Operating, maintenance and renewals (OMR) has reduced by 2.2%, and NR is forecasting a cumulative efficiency gain of around 16% by the end of CP5 (March 2019), rather than the forecast 22%. ORR has launched an investigation into the performance, and into whether NR has the right measures in place to plan and deliver committed projects.

  • Network Rail Monitor Scotland Quarters 3-4 of Year 1 of CP5 12 October 2014 to 31 March 2015

    12/06/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Train performance in Scotland in 2014-2015 was below the regulatory target. The ORR said this was partly due to the Commonwealth Games, but that it will investigate further. NR has generally delivered less than the planned level of work, and missed some regulatory milestones. NR’s financial performance in Scotland is around £2 million better than was budgeted, mostly because of lower Schedule 4 (planned disruption) costs.

  • Passenger Rail Usage 2014-15 Quarter 4 Statistical Release

    04/06/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Franchised operator passenger km have reached the highest figure since these records began in 2002-03, at 62.4 billion km - an increase of 4.5% on last year and 57.2% since 2002-03. Report includes rail usage figures for January 1 2015-March 31 2015. Annual statistics for 2014-15 are also given. Usage has been rising across all areas since 2002-03.

  • ORR’s Policy on Third Rail DC Electrification Systems

    27/03/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Statement sets out and clarifies ORR’s policy on third rail DC electrification systems and i provides duty holders with a clear view of the issues they expect industry to consider and address when evaluating options for the proposed construction or renewal, upgrade or extension of third rail.

  • ORR annual safety reports 2014

    18/03/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    ORR annual safety reports 2015

  • Passenger Rail Usage 2014-15 Quarter 3 Statistical Release

    05/03/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    First TransPennine Express experienced a 16.7% increase in its timetabled train kilometres in 2014-15 Q3 compared with the same period last year - the largest of any operator. Franchised passenger journeys reached a record 429.8 million in 2014-15 Q3 – an increase of 6.7% on the same period last year. Revenue from season ticket fares in 2014-15 Q3 was the highest in any Q3 since records began.