December Newsletter
On 5 November, the UK Government laid the landmark Railways Bill in Parliament which will establish Great British Railways (GBR).
The Bill will have a significant impact on ORR’s responsibilities, leading to a change in our overall role. ORR will be undertaking a major transformation to fulfil its new role – including as an independent, expert advisor to the Secretary of State – and to integrate with the wider reform programme. This new role includes:
- A broader monitoring and reporting role covering all of GBR’s activities, informed by guidance from the Secretary of State, alongside a licence enforcement role that includes long-term asset stewardship, GBR’s role in the management and operation of industry retail systems, as well as requirements on passenger information, accessible travel, complaints, delay compensation and the Rail Ombudsman;
- A reduced enforcement role in other areas, with a greater role for the Secretary of State in holding GBR to account;
- A similar role to today for ORR in a new funding process with a wider scope centred on advising funders on GBR’s integrated “track and train” business plan; and
- A reduced role for ORR in relation to access and use of the network, with GBR making access decisions and setting access charges for use of the network, and ORR performing a new appeals role.
There are also areas where ORR functions will not be impacted by the Bill, including health and safety regulation, production of rail statistics, competition and consumer law enforcement, and our existing roles in relation to roads, non-GBR infrastructure managers and the Channel Tunnel. We will also continue to work closely with all operators, infrastructure managers and stakeholders who will not be part of GBR.
The Bill also establishes a new Passenger Watchdog, grown out of Transport Focus. It is expected to take on functions currently carried out by ORR in relation to passenger information, accessible travel, complaints, delay compensation and sponsorship of the Rail Ombudsman.
The Passenger Watchdog will set requirements on industry in these areas through guidance and codes of practice, subject to agreement by ORR and the Secretary of State. These will be made binding on the industry via conditions in both GBR and non-GBR operators’ licences. The Passenger Watchdog is expected to monitor and publicly report on industry performance against these standards, to seek improvements from industry, and may refer concerns to ORR.
You can read in full about what the Railways Bill means for the role of ORR at Rail Reform and the Railways Bill | Office of Rail and Road.
John Larkinson
CEO
Top Stories
Increasing fares revenue contributes to reduction in government subsidy for the railways
Train fare revenue for Great Britain’s rail network rose 8% to £11.5 billion between April 2024 and March 2025, contributing to a reduction in government funding which fell to £11.9 billion. However, whilst the number of passenger journeys is approaching pre-pandemic levels at 1.7 billion, fare revenue continues to lag 12% behind where it was before the pandemic. Our latest statistics show that operational industry expenditure increased by 1% to £26.0 billion, whilst investment in new and enhanced rail infrastructure and rolling stock reduced to £10.3 billion – with the majority of this invested into High Speed 2.
We have produced a video explaining How the Railway is Funded.
ORR Appears Before Transport Select Committee On Railways Bill
As part of the Transport Select Committee’s inquiry into the Railways Bill, CEO John Larkinson and Director of Strategy, Policy and Reform Stephanie Tobyn gave evidence in a wide-ranging session which focussed heavily on access, but also covered funding, accessibility and ORR’s future role.
The pair were closely questioned by MPs on the implications of the Railways Bill for ORR’s future role including the reduction of ORR’s enforcement powers — particularly over train service performance, which will shift to the Secretary of State — the extent of ORR’s continued independence, and how public accountability would be maintained.
They were also questioned about the practicalities of the new appeals process, the impact of the Bill’s “capacity duty” on open access and freight operators, and the adequacy of stakeholder consultation in shaping key policies.
Efficiency review of National Highways’ draft Strategic Business Plan
In November, we completed our efficiency review of National Highways’ draft Strategic Business Plan. This marks the culmination of three months of work by our team to advise the Secretary of State on whether National Highways’ proposed plans are both deliverable within the available financial resources and sufficiently challenging. Our advice has now been provided to the Department to support the finalisation of the Road Investment Strategy (RIS) and will be published alongside the final RIS.
London Liverpool Street busiest railway station for third year running
With almost 100 million entries and exits, we have confirmed that Liverpool Street station in London has again retained top spot as the busiest station. Elton and Orston in Nottinghamshire is once again the least used station with 68 entries and exits.
The results, from ORR’s latest annual estimates of station usage statistics (April 2024 to March 2025) published yesterday, reflect the continuing impact of the Elizabeth line, which has reshaped travel patterns across London since the central section opened in May 2022. Its services continue to drive high usage at London Liverpool Street, Paddington, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon and Stratford.
Six of the top 10 most popular flows – journeys between stations – were between stations served by the Elizabeth line, with 8.7m journeys between London Liverpool Street and Tottenham Court Road.
See the full estimates of station usage statistics here.
Blogs
Delivering on our welfare commitment for railway workers
Following his blog in June about the critical importance of welfare facilities for railway workers, Richard Hines, ORR’s chief inspector of railways, reflects on the genuine momentum building across the industry. He encourages all rail organisations to sign up to the RSSB Welfare Facilities Charter, which represents a collective commitment to clean, accessible toilets and shared welfare amenities for every rail worker.
While we at ORR will not be setting prescriptive mandatory requirements, our expectation is clear: each employer should conduct realistic risk assessments collaboratively with workers and their representatives to establish welfare arrangements that meet minimum legal standards and make sense for their operational context and improved sharing agreements. We’re committed to working collaboratively with dutyholders and stakeholders on this important topic.
You can read more in Richard’s blog or listen to The Rail and Road Pod Episode 27: Improving Welfare facilities For Rail Workers, where Richard Hines and Sally Griffiths, RSSB’s professional head of occupational health and safety, talk about the work being done to improve welfare facilities for rail workers.
Passenger rolling stock age explained
Our latest statistics show that the average age of franchised rolling stock has decreased from 19.7 years in March 2018 to 16.7 years in March 2025, reflecting the introduction of newer trains and removal of older vehicles. There are more than 15,000 vehicles in Great Britain’s national railway fleet, with average age varying substantially by operator – from Lumo’s youngest fleet at 3.8 years to Chiltern Railways’ oldest at 32.0 years. Rail vehicles typically have a service life of around 30 to 35 years, and customer experience depends on maintenance and refurbishment throughout their life. Transport Focus data shows that 77% of passengers are satisfied with their train and 78% are satisfied with seat comfort.
Statistics
This month we have published the following statistics:
