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ORR welcomes study examining ways to improve value for money across the railway sector

9 December 2009
ORR/28/09

Statement in response to the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of a joint Department for Transport and Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) study examining ways to improve value for money across the entire railway sector.

ORR chief executive Bill Emery said:

"We welcome today's announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of a joint Department for Transport and Office of Rail Regulation study examining ways to improve value for money across the entire railway sector.

"The study will look at all aspects of the rail sector and make recommendations to help the railway industry expand capacity and become more cost-efficient to benefit passengers and provide better value for the taxpayer. It will build upon our benchmarking of Network Rail against railways across the world and help deliver tangible improvements, not only over the next five years which we required as part of our 2008 determination of Network Rail's funding and outputs, but beyond that.

"This work will help drive the industry towards achieving our vision of a railway which delivers safety, efficiency and satisfaction levels for passengers and freight users to world class standards."

Notes to editors

  • For more information about the 'Improving value for money from the railway' study, visit: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/strategyfinance/valueformoney
  • In ORR's determinations of Network Rail’s outputs and access charges for control period 4 (from April 2009 to March 2014), ORR set a tough but achievable target for the company to find 21% efficiency savings by 2014.

ORR Press Office

  • 020 7282 2094/2007/2188