Licence enforcement action taken by ORR to date

This page contains information about our enforcement action taken against Network Rail. It covers enforcement orders, monetary penalties, notices in lieu of enforcement action and breaches where no action was taken.

Enforcement orders

Enforcement orders have been made in the following instances:

  • provisional order requiring Network Rail to produce and deliver a plan in relation to the WCRM project (under condition 7 of the network licence, 2008);
  • weaknesses in the planning and execution of engineering projects requiring possessions (against Network Rail, under condition 7 of the network licence, 2008);
  • post Hatfield rail recovery (against Railtrack PLC, under condition 7 of the network licence in 2001);
  • West Coast modernisation delivery (against Railtrack PLC, under condition 7 of the network licence in 1999-2000);
  • delivery of performance targets (against Railtrack PLC, under condition 7 of the network licence in 1999-2001); and
  • answering targets for the National Rail Enquiry Service (NRES) (against all franchised passenger train operators, under condition 7 of passenger train operator licences in 1997-1998).

Monetary Penalties

ORR has imposed penalties in the following instances:

  • a penalty of £14m on Network Rail for continuing breach of its network licence in relation to the planning and execution of the engineering work requiring possessions (condition 7 of the network licence, 2008) - (paid on 30 May 2008 by Network Rail);
  • a penalty of £2.4m on Network Rail for the weaknesses in planning of the Portsmouth resignalling scheme (condition 7 of the network licence, 2007) - (paid on 21 September 2007 by Network Rail);
  • a penalty of £250,000 on Network Rail in respect of the accuracy of published information on infrastructure capability (condition 7 of the network licence, 2006) - (paid on 12 May 2006 by Network Rail);
  • a penalty of £7.9 million on Railtrack PLC in respect of failure to deliver performance targets, (condition 7 of the network licence, 2001) - (paid on 11 January 2002 by Railtrack PLC); and
  • penalties totalling £350,000 on all franchised passenger train operators in respect of answering targets for NRES (condition 7 of passenger train operator licences, 1997).

Notices in Lieu of Enforcement Action

ORR has issued notices under section 55(6) of the Act in lieu of enforcement action in the following instances:

  • failure to ensure accurate information on infrastructure capability (against Network Rail, under condition 7 of the network licence, 2006);
  • failure to plan renewal, maintenance and enhancement of the network in a timely and efficient manner (T-12) (against Network Rail, under condition 9 of the network licence, 2005);
  • failure to plan renewal, maintenance and enhancement of the network in a timely and efficient manner (T-12) (against Network Rail, under condition 9 of the network licence, 2004);
  • omission from Network Rail’s 2003 business plan of long term expenditure projections (against Network Rail, under condition 7 of the network licence, 2003);
  • failure to provide information to enable Railtrack to comply with condition 9 of the network licence (T-12) (against South West Trains Limited, under condition 14 of its passenger train operator licence, 2002);
  • failure to plan renewal, maintenance and enhancement of the network in a timely and efficient manner (against Railtrack Plc, under condition 9 of the network licence, on a number of occasions in 2001-02);
  • non-compliance with answering targets for the NRES, pending investigation of the achievability of the targets (against all franchised passenger train operators, condition 7 of passenger train operator licences, 1999-2000);
  • failure to plan renewal, maintenance and enhancement of the network in a timely and efficient manner (against Railtrack Plc, under condition 8 of the network licence, on a number of occasions,1999-2000);
  • Review of Railtrack’s Network Management Statement (commitments on reasonable requirements, performance, track quality, capacity bottlenecks) (against Railtrack, under condition 7 of network licence, July 1998);
  • failure to maintain station ticket office opening hours (against Northern Spirit Limited, under condition 7 of its passenger train operator licence, 1997);
  • failure to comply with the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement and Travelcard agreement (against LTS Rail Limited, under condition 7 of its passenger train operator licence, 1997); and
  • failure to comply with the Telephone Enquiry Bureau scheme (against West Anglia Great Northern Railway Limited, under condition 7 of its passenger train operator licence, 1996).

Breaches where no other action was taken:

  • decision to take an additional possession at Rugby on 31 December 2007 at late notice, despite the objections of affected operators (Network Rail, under condition 9 of the network licence, 2008); and
  • disposal of land at East Grinstead without consent (Network Rail, under condition 26 of the network licence (2006).