Office of Rail and Road August 2026 newsletter
31 July 2026
Welcome to the August edition of ORR’s stakeholder newsletter.
July was a busy period for the organisation, with the publication of our annual reports on National Highways, health and safety, Network Rail, High Speed 1, our rail consumer report, and our annual report and accounts.
Our assessment of National Highways found that the company responded well to the challenges of operating within a one-year interim funding period while preparing for the start of the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3).
It met nine of its 11 government-set performance indicators, delivered almost all of its capital commitments, and performed strongly in areas including network availability, road surface condition, motorway incident clearance and road user satisfaction.
At the same time, our assessment highlighted some challenges ahead.
While RIS3 brings a significant increase in investment, including an £8.4 billion renewals programme that is more than 70% larger than that delivered under RIS2, National Highways did not make the level of progress expected in some of the programmes designed to prepare for this more ambitious period.
We identified underspend and delays in key renewals and concrete roads programmes, as well as continuing challenges in elements of its technology renewal programme.
These issues increase delivery risk and reinforce that stronger planning, governance and controls will be essential to ensure National Highways delivers efficiently for road users and taxpayers in RIS3.
We will continue to scrutinise National Highways’ performance closely throughout the first year of RIS3, with a particular focus on the pace of improvement in its planning, governance and delivery, to ensure it is well placed to fulfil its commitments and deliver the outcomes expected by road users and taxpayers.
Top stories
ORR brings rail industry together
Mid-July saw our annual Year in Rail and Track Ahead event, with stakeholders from across the rail industry joining Transport Select Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury MP, Southeastern MD Steve White and ORR directors.
The event, hosted by ORR Chair Declan Collier, covered a broad agenda, with topics including growing pressures on infrastructure and resilience in the context of constrained funding, the increasing impact of climate change, the transformative potential of AI and technology, the need to consider rail policy within the wider transport landscape, and ORR’s commitment to becoming a modern, enabling presence within the system: one that provides independent evidence and robust challenge while working collaboratively with industry to support success.
Steve White talked about the progress being made on integrating track and train operations as an encouraging signal of what GBR can deliver.
The dominant themes of Ruth Cadbury’s session included protection of ORR’s independence and regulatory authority, a strong focus on accessibility and passenger outcomes and recognition of the importance of freight and logistics. She also asserted strongly that rail reform must not come at the expense of an independent regulator, and that transport systems designed for disabled passengers benefit all users.
Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to the success of the event.
ORR reports on safety, accessibility and performance amid rail reform
The Year in Rail and Track Ahead event also presented ORR’s crop of annual reports on the rail industry.
Safety
Our annual health and safety report stresses the importance of maintaining a relentless focus on safety during rail reform. At the event, Chief Inspector Richard Hines also reflected on the tragic recent events at Elstow and Houghton.
Consumer
Our consumer report focuses heavily on accessibility, noting our benchmarking work and enforcement action on Northern trains. Our ticketing work focuses on updated guidance and revenue protection.
Annual assessment of Network Rail
Our annual assessment of Network Rail shows passenger and freight train cancellations reduced in Great Britain in the year to March 2026, while punctuality remained broadly stable. We have set out that Network Rail must better demonstrate how it will mitigate the effects of renewals cuts on future asset condition, safety and performance outcomes – both in the current control period (which runs to March 2029) and beyond.
Annual report on London St. Pancras Highspeed published
We have just published our annual assessment of the regulated aspects of London St. Pancras Highspeed’s operational and financial performance for the financial year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
The company is the concessionaire responsible for the High Speed 1 railway linking St. Pancras International with the Channel Tunnel.
The report covers the first year of Control Period 4 for the organisation, and covers health and safety, asset management, finance and efficiency and performance. This year’s report saw welcome improvements in managing trespass and weather-related incidents and health and safety. We have seen increased transparency through London St. Pancras Highspeed’s governance arrangements and will continue to work with them over the coming year on areas where some concerns remain such as their management of lifts and escalators, and signalling.
National Highways misses halving target despite lowest casualty rate since Covid
National Highways has missed its target to halve deaths and serious injuries on England’s motorways and major A-roads by the end of 2025, compared to the 2005-2009 average baseline, with figures showing a 37.5% reduction against the 50% goal.
While the total number of people killed or seriously injured rose slightly year-on-year (up six to 1,875), this was against a backdrop of growing traffic levels, meaning the casualty rate per mile travelled actually fell to its lowest ever recorded level (excluding 2020, when traffic was significantly affected by the pandemic).
National Highways had already put additional safety measures in place after an earlier report flagged it was off track, but these weren’t enough to close the gap. A fuller assessment of the company’s performance is due when the next annual safety report is published in January 2027.
Full steam ahead – New guidance clarifies activities suitable for young volunteers on heritage railways and tramways
Earlier this month we published guidance designed to help heritage railway and tramway operators give young volunteers, aged from 14 to minimum school leaving age, the chance to learn new skills while making sure the right safeguards are in place.
The publication, developed in concert with the Health and Safety Executive, with input from the Heritage Railway Association, makes clear that many activities can be suitable for young volunteers, provided operators properly assess the risks, provide the right supervision and training, and make sure tasks are appropriate for the young person’s age, maturity and physical capability.
ORR seeks views on railway licence changes to prepare for rail reform
Earlier this week we published a discussion document setting out how we propose to ensure railway licences are updated and ready for the reformed railway.
ORR is seeking to ensure that non-GBR operators’ existing licences are updated and ready for GBR and rail reform. Consumer standards and industry wide systems are the main areas where the regulator has highlighted changes to licences are most likely. We are planning a formal policy consultation in the autumn, but views on the document are welcome by 18 September 2026.
Statistics
This month we published the following statistics:
- Passenger lifts at stations: 2 July 2026
- Occupational health, April 2025 to March 2026: 16 July 2026
- Rail Fares Index: 30 July 2026
