Economic regulation

An Office of Rail and Road (ORR) review commissioned into how Network Rail (NR) plans for and delivers engineering works has found that while there have been some recent improvements, further work is required to minimise disruption to passengers and ensure public money is spent appropriately.

Achieving real efficiency is one of the six outcomes National Highways (formerly Highways England) is required to deliver in the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2), set by government in March 2020.

A total of 234 rail industry stakeholders helped shape today’s report published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) through sharing their experiences on the quality of Network Rail’s engagement. Findings show significant improvements in 2020-21, despite the challenging context of COVID-19, with a majority rating Network Rail's engagement as good or very good (73%).

All lane running (ALR) motorways are relatively new to Britain and understandably there are questions to understand their safety relative to conventional motorways.

In this episode, the Rail and Road Pod looks at how the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) holds Network Rail to account for its performance and efficiency.

Today the Department for Transport, Network Rail and the Office for Rail and Road are officially launching the Better Value Rail (BVR) Toolkit.

The Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) annual assessment of Highways England finds the company hit its performance targets in 2020-21, the first year (April 1 2020 to March 31 2021) of the second road period, but ORR warns of the need to address delays to some key projects and subsequent forecast underspends.