ORR's approach to transparency - a consultation

On 26 July 2012 we published a consultation on ORR’s approach to transparency. We believe that transparency has a vital role to play in driving the behavioural changes necessary for industry reform, delivering better value for money and an industry that has a sharper focus on its customers.

Our consultation document described why we believe transparency is so important and outlined the focus and activities of ORR and the industry. It described the challenges of greater transparency and what we believed the next steps should be.

We were keen to get feedback on our proposed scope and pace of transparency, the demand and usages for data and information, and what ORR’s role should be in its publication. We were interested in views on how data and information should best be presented and disseminated, and hearing about existing transparency initiatives from the rail industry, and beyond.

We held a rail transparency conference on 10 December 2012, where we aimed to stimulate a lively and productive conversation around what transparency means in the context of the railways and how we can work together to deliver the benefits that transparency can bring to passengers, taxpayers and the industry.

We will be considering the responses to this consultation, along with the views expressed at our December conference, and aim to publish our regulatory statement on transparency during the summer.