The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has revealed this financial year it will publish its first report covering the rail industry’s progress on enhancing customer experience, following a super complaint over passenger compensation.
The Measuring Up report will become an annual feature of the watchdog’s work and the inaugural document will cover areas such as disabled persons protection policies and complaints handling.
In an earlier response to the super complaint, the ORR gave a list of recommendations including better information and stronger monitoring of standards.
The fresh announcement was made in the ORR’s 2016-17 business plan, which also outlined plans for its 2018 periodic review (PR18) of Network Rail's outputs and funding for control period 6 (2019-24). An initial PR18 core document will be released for consultation this year.
‘We will set out potential options for consultation on changes to the funding and operation of the network and outline and how we will assess their implications to protect the public interest. It will include analysis of potentially different approaches for England, Scotland and Wales,’ the business plan states.
Building on the recommendations of the Shaw review, ORR’s PR18 will consider options for route-based regulation, ‘underpinned by a strong system operator and for an effective charging and incentives regime for Network Rail as the network monopoly’.
Network Rail ‘routes’ are administrative areas across the England, Scotland and Wales, which continue to be handed more funding and responsibilities from the central operator. The ORR states this will give an increased role for regional transport authorities.
Enabling work has already begun looking at three key areas; the structure of charges for passengers and freight operators, how route-based regulation could look, and how to ensure a system-operator perspective is maintained.
On health and safety in rail, the ORR says: ‘Our priority for the year ahead is to further improve performance. To do this we will focus on level crossings, stations, infrastructure ‘safer by design’ (in which we ensure safety is considered when new rail schemes are created) industry collaboration and occupational health improvements’.
These health improvements include a pledge ‘to step up monitoring of fatigue among safety-critical workers’.
On highways ORR says: ‘We will also establish how we will monitor capital investment delivery, setting out in detail how we plan to monitor the way in which Highways England delivers major improvement schemes, ringfenced investment funds, maintenance and renewals work.’
The ORR will also work with the light rail sector ‘to ensure that highways design can better accommodate trams’.
