Licence exemptions

Where a proposed operation falls within the scope of the Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2005, you will need to apply for a licence and/or SNRP. We cannot grant exemptions under these regulations.

We may grant exemptions from the obligation to hold a licence under the Railways Act 1993. The Railways Act 1993 enables the Secretary of State to grant exemptions to a particular class or description of persons as well as to individual applicants.

We are only able to grant exemptions to individual applicants, although these may be in respect of particular specified assets or classes of assets.

All exemptions

All copies of licence exemptions granted by ORR are on the Office of Rail Regulation's public register. Electronic copies of current exemptions are available for download as Adobe Acrobat PDF files from the pages linked below.

Abbreviations
LMD A light maintenance depot where services such as refuelling and cleaning trains takes place, and other frequent light maintenance work.
Heritage The operation of low frequency, non-mainline passenger services and assets, usually on a preserved railway line.
Network A railway line or combination of lines and installations, functionally separate from the national network.  The network is usually operated within a fenced or controlled access territory.
Contractor A rail maintenance company which undertakes track maintenance and repair, usually on behalf of Network Rail.  Maintenance activities usually take place within engineering possessions using Rail Mounted Maintenance Vehicles (RMMVs).

Page last updated: 08 March 2010

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