Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Office for Rail and Road's regulation of Network Rail; and if he will make a statement.

The Department for Transport reviewed the effectiveness of the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) regulation of the railways in 2016. The conclusions were announced in March 2016:

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/rail-reform-the-shaw-report

The Government is committed to ensuring continued strong, independent economic and safety regulation of the railway. I welcome the work the ORR has been carrying out to scrutinise Network Rail’s plans for the next five year Control Period. The Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 20 July 2017 refers to new statutory guidance to the ORR. This sets out our priorities for rail regulation. These include supporting the ORR’s work to improve Network Rail’s efficiency and improving the experience of users of the railway.