Office of Rail Regulation reports on progress in complying with the requirement for advanced provision of timetable information
11 February 2005
ORR/05/05
Statement from the Office of Rail Regulation
Office of Rail Regulation reports on progress in complying with the requirement for advanced provision of timetable information
At a meeting today at the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), Network Rail and other key industry parties reviewed the lessons learnt from Christmas and New Year to improve train timetable and seat reservation information for passengers.
The meeting considered a draft report from ORR on performance over Christmas and the New Year, which shows that:
- Network Rail broadly achieved the target of providing Train Operating Companies (TOCs) with timetable information four weeks in advance for each of the three weeks spanning Christmas and the New Year;
- However not all the information provided by Network Rail to the (TOCs) was of an acceptable standard;
- This affected some TOCs’ ability to provide advance bookings for passengers including reduced price advance purchase fares;
- For many long-distance journeys passengers were unable to reserve seats even three weeks in advance; and
- Some passengers also received incorrect information because of a computer crash of 16 December 2004 that affected the accuracy of information given in advance and at stations.
Train operators and passenger representatives expressed their concerns at the meeting about the adverse effects on passengers of current performance and received an update from Network Rail on progress with its recovery plan, and what it was doing to improve accuracy of information.
Network Rail reported that it expects to upload today timetable information for the Easter period for the majority of train operators. ORR has asked the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) to report during the course of next week as to when train operators expect to be able to accept advance bookings for Easter.
ORR will now consider the report on the issues arising from the Christmas and New Year period and other points raised at the meeting, and decide what further action might be required to ensure full compliance with the recovery plan, agreed last year, to provide timely and accurate information to passengers.
Notes for editors
- The primary constraints on the ability of passengers to plan their journeys, book tickets and reserve seats at a reasonable time before travelling are the changes that are required to be made to the established timetable to allow Network Rail to take possession of lines in order to maintain, renew and enhance the network.
- Under Condition 9 of Network Rail’s network licence, enforced by ORR, Network Rail is required to provide accurate information about revisions to the national timetable at least twelve weeks in advance of operation. In 2004, in response to Network Rail’s non-compliance with Condition 9, ORR received a commitment from Network Rail for a recovery plan that said it would achieve a staged improvement so that TOCs had an accurate timetable four weeks before Christmas and New Year (T-4), six weeks before Easter (T-6), and 12 weeks by September 2005 (T-12).
- The commitments given by Network Rail were considered at the August 2004 meeting of ORR’s Board. The Board decided not to take enforcement action against Network Rail, in respect of the breach of its licence, in light of the commitments it had received and, on 2 September 2004, issued a notice to this effect, as required by section 55(6) of the Railways Act 1993 as amended.
- Information enters timetables for advance booking following the provision of data by Network Rail. The time taken between Network Rail uploading the information and this being available to passengers depends upon the accuracy of the information, and the finalising of requests from train operators. This process can take up to a week.
- Press notice Office of Rail Regulation acts to restore advance timetable information issued 2 September 2004 is available from the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.6632.
- Review of delivery of informed traveller requirement over the Christmas and New Year period is available from the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/t12.pdf
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