ORR National rail review and Network Rail monitor Q2 2006-07
13 November 2006
ORR/32/06
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) today publishes its National rail review and Network Rail monitor covering the second quarter of 2006-07.
ORR chief executive Bill Emery said: “This National rail review paints a picture of an industry that is continuing to make progress in many key areas. One of the key challenges for the industry is to find a way to ensure that all the necessary engineering work does not get in the way of the agreed aim of having a seven-day railway. We are pleased that there is progress with the industry-wide review of possessions with a view to achieving this. Similarly we are pleased that the industry is also working together to address sustainable development issues.
"Although there have been some recent improvements in safety performance, sadly in this quarter we have had to investigate the deaths of four workers while on railways business. We are all aware that an unacceptable number of staff continue to be killed or injured while working on the railways. All parties must remain vigilant and compliant with safe working practices if we are to make working on our railways as safe as it should be."
“Our Network Rail monitor shows that Network Rail is still on track to exceed its regulatory targets. However, I am concerned that some of the progress made in the first quarter has not been continued into this period. Network Rail will need to redouble its efforts if it is to beat its own target for delay minutes.”
The National rail review - Q2 2006-07 features a number of key industry issues, including:
- Engineering possessions – the industry is making progress in looking for ways to reduce the impact engineering work has on passengers and freight operators,
- Sustainable development – rail has traditionally been regarded as an environmentally friendly mode of transport, particularly in terms of energy efficiency and emissions and, as more people are choosing to travel by rail, we need to highlight reliable, relevant information that will demonstrate rail’s advantages in promoting sustainable development. Putting the spotlight on these indicators will also encourage improvements. Our aim is to ensure rail continues to play its full role in meeting the objectives of sustainable development.
- Safety – The risk to passengers from a train accident (as measured by the train accident precursor indicator model) has slightly reduced. It continued to be significantly lower than the 2002 reference point. Level crossing misuse continues to cause concern, however, there has been a slight decrease in the number and severity of accidents. The incidence of injuries to workers is far too common but trends are, at least, heading in the right direction.
- Stations – Passenger satisfaction with station services and facilities, although improving, lags behind overall satisfaction with station environment. TOCs and Network Rail have a great deal more to do in this area, and ORR is encouraging them to work jointly to develop plans for improvements reflecting both a long term asset management approach and market needs.
- Investment – Network Rail is successfully delivering several major investment programmes, including the west coast route modernisation. Third parties are also bringing significant sums to invest in improving the network. However, progress on smaller scale investments is disappointing. Network Rail needs to find ways to deliver these improvements more quickly.
Network Rail monitor for Q2 2006-07 25 June to 16 September 2006 shows:
Great Britain
- Performance – the public performance measure improved to 87.5% (moving annual average).
- Delay minutes – Network Rail is still on-course to meet its annual regulatory target for delay minutes. However, after good performance in Q1, performance improvements in Q2 have stalled, due largely to weather-related problems.
- Infrastructure assets – There were further reductions in delay minutes from infrastructure causes (down 9% on last year). However, it is disappointing that the number of infrastructure failure incidents increased slightly.
- West coast main line – Reasonable progress is being made with schemes to improve capacity and journey times on the west coast main line, with Network Rail being on-target to complete the work in time for the December 2008 timetable.
Scotland
- Train performance – Performance in Scotland continues to improve, and is now ahead of Network Rail’s own target.
- Infrastructure assets – Overall, track geometry measures continue to be significantly better than the network-wide average.
National rail review covers developments up to and including quarter 2 2006-07 (July, August and September 2006), including progress with the industry-wide review of how to minimise disruption through engineering work and an overview of the industry’s position on sustainable development.
The National rail review comments on the issues and trends in the national rail industry in Britain, and incorporates the latest quarterly edition of the Network Rail monitor: with companion scorecards for England and Wales, and for Scotland. The National rail review draws on and includes access to National rail trends, which has become a rolling online data resource, enabling users to have access to the most up-to-date information possible.
Notes to editors
- The National rail review is available on the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/305.pdf.
- National rail trends is available on the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.129.
- The Network Rail monitor and a commentary is available on the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/306.pdf.
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