UK: The Office of Rail & Road has accepted Network Rail’s detailed plan to address underlying issues leading to poor train reliability and punctuality in the Wales & Western region.
An ORR investigation found that Network Rail was not doing all it reasonably could to improve. The regulator felt that the infrastructure manager’s original proposals to improve performance did not have sufficient detail, timelines or breadth, and so it required Network Rail to prepare a more robust plan.
This has now been accepted and includes nearly 60 individual actions. It covers:
- improving the timetable to be more resilient;
- improving the forecasting of extreme weather events;
- investing in asset reliability and performance;
- investing in people, including improving performance leadership, behaviours and accountability;
- improved learning and insight from past and future disruption events;
- increased collaboration between industry bodies, including train operators.
Many of the actions are to be implemented before the end of the year, including governance changes to provide a greater focus on punctuality and reliability and exercises to improve the response to stranded trains, and 90% are scheduled to be completed by 2026.
‘We pushed for this plan to be comprehensive and region-wide, and it is’, said ORR Director, Performance & Planning Feras Alshaker on September 26.
‘We will be watching to make sure Network Rail delivers on its promises to passengers.’
