The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has ordered Britain first high-speed rail line to reduce its charges to passenger and freight train operating companies.

HS1, which runs from London St Pancras International to the Channel Tunnel, will have to implement the reduction from April 2025.

The ORR, which is Britain’s rail regulator, published its decision in its Final Determination of HS1 Ltd’s spending plans for the next five years.

The determination is the result of the ORR thoroughly reviewing , HS1’s proposals. The company had already proposed to cut some costs.

The Office of Road and Rail decided on the basis of its review that it is appropriate for the charge to operators to be 3.8% less than in HS1 Ltd‘s plans.

That will mean a reduction in its income of five million pounds per year.

HS1 Ltd published its plan in November last year, in response to the ORR’s Draft Determination in September.

The compnay disagreed with the Draft Determination’s proposals for it to cut charges. However, after considering further evidence from HS1 and other stakeholders, the regulator determined that HS1’s spending plans did not match up to the duty it has to spend money efficiently.

Part of the direction from the ORR is that HS1 Ltd must cut its charges for renewing its stations (including London St Pancras) and its track assets and its stations.

The ORR has also ordered the company to cut the amount that it charges for operating and maintaining the railway on a day-to-day basis.

When the ORR reviewed HS1 Ltd’s spending plan, it identified particular areas in which the company could make further improvements. These can now be translated into savings for passenger and freight train operators.

The regulator concluded that if HS1 improves the way in which it manages its track and station assets, it can charge less to operators.

The ORR hopes that this will ultimately benefit passengers and freight customers, but its determination on HS1 does not compel the operating companies to pass on the savings in this way.

HS1 opened in 2007. Eurostar uses the 68.3-mile stretch of line, as do Southeastern’s Javelin trains.

“Our thorough, independent review of HS1 Ltd’s spending plans has resulted in significantly lower costs for passenger and freight train operators using the high speed line from April 2025. Although, overall, HS1’s original plans were good, the company must now change specific areas of those plans to account for our decisions, which should benefit everyone who uses this railway.”

Feras Alshaker, director, planning and performance, Office of Road and Rail