Office of Rail and Road Parliamentary Drop-In

The Office of Rail and Road Regulation (ORR) is responsible for holding Network Rail and National Highways to account ensuring they deliver significant investments to improve our national infrastructure. I met with Declan Collier who is the Chair of the ORR and I raised the issue of Bescot Stadium Station and the lack of progress on an accessible station.  Mr Collier agreed to raise the issue with Network Rail. I made the point that it is no use prioritising stations for funding for access on the measures of footfall if the station is inaccessible there would be fewer users.   

On other matters,  the Railways Bill continues its passage through Parliament and will establish GBR, a new publicly owned body, that will run and manage the tracks and trains for passengers and freight use every day. The Bill will also give passengers a powerful new voice with a Passenger Watchdog, and an enhanced role for devolved governments and England’s mayors to have a bigger say in how the railway is run in their regions.

GBR will take responsibility for the day-to-day operational delivery of the railways: from delivering services to setting timetables, managing access to the network and operating, maintaining, and renewing infrastructure.