The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a

non-ministerial government department Non-ministerial government departments (NMGDs) are a type of department of the United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil s ...

responsible for the economic and safety

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. ...

of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of

National Highways National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all f ...

. ORR regulates

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's len ...

by setting its activities and funding requirements for each Control Period, ensuring train operators have fair access to the railway network, and enforcing compliance with its network licence. ORR also regulates

High Speed 1 High Speed 1 (HS1), legally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of a line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe ...

, the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover ...

, and also acts as the appeal body, controls the network statement and monitors the competitive situation of rail services in Northern Ireland. It is the competition authority for the railways and enforces

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

law in relation to the railways. From April 2015, ORR assumed responsibility for monitoring National Highways' management of the strategic road network – the motorways and main 'A' roads in England – and advising the

Secretary of State for Transport The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent is ...

on the levels of funding and performance requirements for each Road Period.

History

ORR was established as the Office of Rail Regulation on 5 July 2004 by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, replacing the

Rail Regulator The Rail Regulator was a statutory office, created with effect from 1 December 1993 by section 1 of the Railways Act 1993, for the independent economic regulation of the British railway industry. The office was abolished from 4 July 2004, using ...

. It became the Office of Rail and Road on 1 April 2015 following ORR's appointment as Monitor for National Highways under the

Infrastructure Act 2015 The Infrastructure Act 2015 is a wide-ranging piece of planning and infrastructure legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom during David Cameron's administration. The act targets "transport, energy provision, housing developme ...

Functions

Network Rail

Network Rail – the owner and operator of most of the railway network in England, Scotland and Wales – operates under a network licence. ORR holds Network Rail to account through the network licence which includes conditions relating to its management of the railway network, information provision and safety obligations. ORR is also responsible for setting Network Rail's outputs and funding requirement for each Control Period, including the access charges paid by

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

and

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

operating companies to Network Rail for the use of its infrastructure. ORR then holds Network Rail to account against the delivery, performance and service levels set out in its final determination. ORR is concerned with the

of Network Rail as the

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

owner of much of Britain's railway infrastructure. It does not play a direct role in regulating fares (responsibility for this lies with the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

High Speed 1

ORR regulates the High Speed 1 line between St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel. This line is operated by HS1 Ltd, and is separate to the rest of the national railway network operated by Network Rail, but ORR regulates it in much the same way. This includes holding HS1 to account for its performance, service and value for money for passengers and the freight industry.

Rail safety

ORR regulates health and safety for the entire mainline rail network in Britain, as well as London Underground, light rail, trams and the heritage sector. ORR has a team of more than 100 rail health and safety inspectors and professionals who have powers of enforcement. Their remit is to ensure that the railway is safe, and is kept safe, at a reasonably practicable cost.

Fair access and fair treatment

A primary role for ORR is to enforce consumer law and compliance with the conditions contained in Network Rail’s and train operators’ licences, to help ensure that all rail users get the service to which they are entitled.

National Highways

National Highways operates, maintains and improves England's strategic road network, operating under a licence (managed by the Department for Transport). ORR monitors and enforces the performance and efficiency of National Highways against the outputs set out in the government's Road Investment Strategy and licence, and advises the Secretary of State for Transport on the funding levels and performance requirements for each Road Period.

Statutory duties

In carrying out its railway functions, ORR must discharge its statutory duties, which are its formal objectives. These are laid down in section 4 of the

Railways Act 1993 The Railways Act 1993c 43 was introduced by John Major's Conservative government and passed on 5 November 1993. It provided for the restructuring of the British Railways Board (BRB), the public corporation that owned and operated the national ra ...

, and include the protection of the interests of users and the promotion of competition, efficiency and economy in the provision of railway services. ORR’s duties as the Monitor for National Highways are set out in section 12 of the Infrastructure Act 2015. These require that ORR must exercise its functions in the way it considers most likely to promote the performance and efficiency of National Highways. ORR also has a role within The Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016.

Public law obligations

Like other public authorities, ORR must comply with the rules of administrative law, and is amenable to

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

, so it must act lawfully, rationally, proportionately and in accordance with the relevant rules of procedure. Although operationally independent of central government as a

, it is still covered by legislation such as the

Freedom of Information Act 2000 The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c. 36) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in ...

Management

All members of the ORR board are appointed by the

for a fixed term of up to five years. The current ORR Chair is Declan Collier, appointed in January 2019. John Larkinson is acting as interim Chief Executive Officer. ORR employs approximately 300 people, with offices in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and York.

Statistics

ORR is the main provider of railway industry statistics in Britain. ORR publishes a range of statistics about railway performance, rail usage and safety – to support performance evaluation, analysis and decision-making for the railway industry. It produces usage statistics for each station.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Department for Transport 2004 establishments in the United Kingdom Organisations based in the City of Westminster Regulators of the United Kingdom Transport policy in the United Kingdom