Office of Rail and Road September 2026 newsletter
1 September 2026
Welcome to the September edition of ORR’s stakeholder newsletter.
A pressing focus for us as a regulator is ensuring a safer railway for passengers, workers and the general public. We were therefore deeply concerned by August’s derailments at Lewes and Wickford. Our thoughts are with those affected and we are investigating the circumstances of the incidents.
Such incidents are thankfully rare, but maintaining that record depends on continual vigilance, learning, and improvement. ORR’s role is to ensure that investigations are thorough, that the industry’s response is evidence-based, and that any lessons needed to manage future risks are identified and acted upon.
Alongside our investigative and regulatory work, ORR’s legal team plays a vital role in protecting the public and supporting a railway and road network that works for everyone. Their expertise helps ensure that safety obligations are properly understood and enforced, that operators and infrastructure managers are held to account where necessary, and that regulatory decisions are fair, robust and capable of withstanding scrutiny.
Whether supporting prosecutions, advising on complex regulatory issues, or helping to shape the framework within which industry operates, our work is fundamental to achieving better outcomes for passengers, road users and freight customers.
That contribution was evident again in August when Network Rail was fined £1.2million after it pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 following the collapse of a wall in September 2022 near Rugby station.
The boundary wall beside a car park at the station collapsed onto 81-year-old pedestrian Edward Hanlon, as he walked along the adjacent path. Although Network Rail owned the wall and remained responsible for its repair and maintenance, undocumented redevelopment of the station car park by a previous tenant led to the mistaken assumption that responsibility lay elsewhere.
ORR’s investigation found that the wall had therefore been omitted from Network Rail’s inspection regime. The organisation had failed to identify both the discrepancy in its boundary records or the wall’s deteriorating condition. These failings meant the risk the wall posed to members of the public went unidentified. Mr Hanlon passed away in January 2025 from lymphoma. A statement from his daughter indicated he never fully recovered from his injuries.
We will continue to use the full range of our regulatory and legal powers where it is in the public interest to do so.
Through this work, and through our broader regulatory activities, we remain committed to protecting people while enabling safe, reliable and efficient rail and road systems that serve everyone.
Top stories
New track access agreement approved for Virgin
We have pre-approved a new framework track access agreement between HS1 Limited (London St. Pancras Highspeed) and Virgin Trains, supporting economic growth and international travel.
Virgin Trains will be able to operate up to 20 daily return international services between London and Paris, and Brussels and Amsterdam from 1 October 2030 through to 31 December 2040.
Network Rail fined £1.2 million after station wall collapse left a man seriously injured
Network Rail has been fined after a boundary wall it owned at Rugby railway station collapsed onto and seriously injured an 81-year-old member of public who was using the adjacent alleyway in September 2022.
Our detailed investigation and decision to prosecute followed Network Rail’s failure to inspect or maintain the wall after undocumented redevelopment work by a previous tenant led to a mistaken assumption over the station boundary. These failings led to the wall’s deteriorating condition going unidentified and the consequences that followed.
Preparing for Great British Railways: Rail reform consultation table published
As part of our ongoing work preparing for Great British Railways (GBR) and rail reform, we have published a table of ORR’s planned rail reform consultations. This includes what each consultation will cover and the scheduled publication period. For each consultation, we will publish supporting information and details on how you can respond.
We are also holding industry roundtables in September with over 50 licence holders (with around 100 licences between them) who are not expected to form part of GBR. The roundtables will provide an opportunity to discuss our emerging thinking and seek stakeholders’ views to inform our approach, ahead of formal policy consultation in autumn 2026.
Please contact strategyandreform@orr.gov.uk if you’d like any further information on the consultations.
Latest statistics on rail fares released
The Rail Fares Index 2026 stats have been published by our Rail Statistics team showing rail fares across Great Britain were unchanged in 2026 compared with a 4.1% rise in the Retail Prices Index between March 2025 and March 2026.
The picture does vary by ticket type: off-peak fares, accounting for almost a third of fare revenue, rose by 0.4%, while unregulated standard class fares decreased by 0.2%.
Read the full picture at Rail Fares Index 2026.
How satisfied are passengers with how train operators handle their complaints?
We recently published our latest Passenger Satisfaction With Complaints Handlings stats. 31% of respondents said they were satisfied with how their train operator handled their complaints in the latest year – up half a percent from the previous year.
Caledonian Sleeper had the highest satisfaction rate with 54%, and West Midlands Trains had the lowest rate with 15%.
View the full breakdown of stats.
Setting expectations for National Highways ahead of the third road period
Following publication of our annual assessment of National Highways’ performance and delivery of the 2025-26 interim settlement, we’ve written to the company to set out our expectations for strengthening its internal arrangements. This includes the need for more robust governance and clearer evidence of decision-making, which will be vital in helping National Highways identify, manage and respond to delivery risks throughout the third road period (RP3).
Building skills for the future: ORR’s fifth internship cohort completes programme
This summer marked the successful completion of our fifth annual internship programme, taking the total number of participants to 27 since the programme first launched in 2022.
The 8-week programme is open to graduates, and undergraduates who have completed at least two years of their degree studies. This year’s cohort of four worked across our IT, Economics, Access and Licensing, and Regulatory Planning teams. Mia Berry who began her internship in the Economics, Finance & Markets Directorate has posted about her experiences as an intern at ORR.
This has also been a landmark year, with two former interns successfully securing permanent roles with ORR after completing their studies.
Visit our careers page to find out more about our latest opportunities.
Blogs
What does using public transport feel like from a wheelchair user’s perspective?
Russell Grossman, ORR’s director of communications, joined accessibility trainer Rosemary Frazer and ORR senior consumer compliance executive Nadira Ferdous to get a better understanding of the realities disabled passengers face. Read Russell’s blog.
Statistics
This month we published the following statistics:
- Passenger satisfaction with complaints handling: 13 August 2026
- Train Operating Company key statistics: 6 August 2026
- Rail Fares Index 2026: 30 July 2026
