Passengers in Wales and Western England are to benefit from improved reliability of their train services following intervention by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

The underlying issues that have been causing poor train reliability and punctuality in the region, which includes some of the busiest train routes into and out of London Paddington, have been addressed in a plan that has been submitted to and accepted by the regulator.

In its investigation into poor train performance in Network Rail’s Wales & Western region, the regulator found that Network Rail was not doing all it reasonably could to improve performance for passengers and freight.

Network Rail had previously submitted proposals to improve performance, including a performance improvement plan for Thames Valley.

The regulator considered that these did not contain sufficient detail, timelines, or breadth to deliver sustained improvements across the whole of the Wales & Western Region.

As a result, the regulator instructed Network Rail to produce a more robust plan.

A positive and proactive response from Network Rail’s Wales & Western region resulted in a comprehensive plan for performance that was acceptable to the regulator.

Delivery of the plan will now be monitored by the regulator, with 90 per cent of it scheduled to be completed by 2026.

Many actions in the plan include conducting exercises to improve Network Rail’s response to stranded trains and changing the governance throughout the region for a greater focus on train punctuality and reliability. These are due to be implemented by the end of this year.

With nearly 60 individual actions, the plan covers:

• Improving the timetable to be more resilient.
• Improving the forecasting of extreme weather events.
• Investing in asset reliability and performance.
• Investing in people, including improving performance leadership, behaviours and accountability.
• Improved learning and insight from past and future disruption events.
• Increased collaboration between industry bodies, including train operators.

The Wales & Western investigation:

Although train performance has largely stabilised across Great Britain following disruption caused by COVID-19, performance in Network Rail’s Wales & Western region has continued to deteriorate.

The regulator’s investigation, and subsequent findings, determined that Network Rail had not done all it reasonably could have to improve performance in the region, especially after the Elizabeth Line opened and other infrastructure changes.

Following the conclusion of its investigation, The Office of Rail and Road issued a ‘final order’ that required Network Rail to create a robust, evidenced, and timebound plan by 31 August 2024 to address performance in the region or face a £3m fine.

In other investigations, the Office of Rail and Road is calling for more support for disabled passengers by train operator Northern, for operators to provide better information about rail-replacement bus services, and changes to the practice of ‘drip-pricing’ tickets sold online.

We are pleased with the detailed work Network Rail has done to create a clear, workable plan that should sort out the underlying issues and deliver sustained improvement for passengers – passenger train performance in the Wales & Western region has been letting customers down for too long.
We pushed for this plan to be comprehensive and region-wide, and it is. We will be watching  to make sure Network Rail delivers on its promises to passengers.

Feras Alshaker, Director, Performance and Planning at the Office of Rail and Road