{"id":30872,"date":"2024-04-04T23:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T13:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=bf97a4c3108c9e9ee018ec4215924b7e"},"modified":"2024-04-04T23:05:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T13:05:00","slug":"office-of-rail-and-road-april-2024-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=30872","title":{"rendered":"Office of Rail and Road April 2024 newsletter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Office of Rail and Road April 2024 newsletter<\/span>
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Hello and welcome to the April newsletter.<\/h2>\n

The last few months have been busy as we have progressed work protecting the interests of rail passengers and securing improvements across the consumer areas that we regulate.<\/p>\n

Firstly, we reported<\/a> on an audit we commissioned of how a sample of five train operating companies were meeting regulatory requirements related to the delivery of passenger assistance.<\/p>\n

We know that when booked assistance is delivered successfully passenger satisfaction is high, but when assistance fails it can significantly impact the well-being of passengers and their overall travel experience.<\/p>\n

Specific actions detailed in this report included the more widespread adoption of the Passenger Assist staff app to improve communication between departure and destination stations when delivering assistance. This will improve the reliability of the service and deliver a more inclusive travel experience for all.<\/p>\n

Secondly we published our first report<\/a> reviewing the reliability of over 1300 Network Rail-managed passenger lifts at 491 stations, including how real-time information is provided to passengers regarding lift faults. Lift reliability is important for an accessible railway and when a lift is unavailable, accurate information is then essential for confident journey planning<\/p>\n

We found that lift reliability is either in decline or static and we are taking further action to understand Network Rail\u2019s monitoring and management processes, to ensure it is taking appropriate measures to plan and carry out maintenance and repairs. \u00a0This includes ensuring that better information is available when lifts are out of order for any reason.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, we have worked with independent rail ticket retailers following our review in December 2023 into \u2018drip pricing\u2019<\/a>, which showed that some retailers were not sufficiently transparent about the additional fees they charged on their websites and apps. We focused on improving transparency, fairness and clarity for consumers when buying tickets online. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Every retailer we reviewed engaged positively with us, recognising the importance of complete transparency regarding fees from the outset of the ticket purchasing process. As a result, most have made improvements already with further changes being worked on by some. We will continue to monitor progress in advance of new laws being introduced to ban such practices.<\/p>\n

Finally, we were pleased to see the cap on administration fees<\/a> for ticket refunds reduced from \u00a310 to \u00a35. This reduction follows our review, where we found notable differences between the cost of processing a refund – on average less than \u00a35 – and the allowed maximum admin fee of \u00a310. \u00a0We called on industry to review the fees.<\/p>\n

We remain committed to progressing the work detailed in each of these areas and to ensuring that all parts of the industry remain focused on these key areas of the passenger experience. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Later this month we will be publishing further work looking at understanding disabled passengers\u2019 experience of train operators’ complaints processes.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Tobyn<\/strong>
Director of Strategy, Policy and Reform<\/p>\n

Top stories<\/h2>\n

Open access service given green light between London and Stirling<\/h3>\n

Passengers should have a new way to travel between London and Stirling<\/a> starting June 2025, following approval of Grand Union Trains\u2019 application to ORR to run four daily services on this route. This is the first time an open access operator, independent of government funding, will be offering services on the West Coast Main Line.<\/p>\n

The new route will also include stops in Milton Keynes, Nuneaton, Crewe (potentially), Preston, Carlisle, Lockerbie and Motherwell, and will mean several towns getting their first direct connection to London. This increased competition is expected to benefit passengers with more choices and potentially lower fares.<\/p>\n

Control Period 7 begins<\/h3>\n

1 April marked the start of Control Period 7<\/a> (CP7) \u00a0\u2013 Network Rail\u2019s five-year plan totalling approximately \u00a345bn in cash terms (approximately \u00a343bn in today\u2019s prices, adjusted for forecast inflation) for the operation, support, maintenance and renewals expenditure across Great Britain in the five-year control period. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The key elements of CP7 are: \u00a0<\/p>\n