Passengers cannot consistently rely on help points at stations, says rail regulator

Help points at stations enable passengers to speak to a member of staff and are found at 83% of stations across the GB rail network. Passengers most commonly use help points to ask for information about when the next train is, but they are also sometimes used to ask for passenger assistance or to report an emergency. Passengers can access an equivalent service by calling a freephone number at the 325 unstaffed or partially staffed stations without a help point.

The Office of Rail and Road reviewed data from 21 operators of stations responsible for help points at more than 2,500 stations in Britain; and also reviewed Department for Transport and Transport Scotland data from routine service quality audits.

The report found: 

• A quarter of stations audited for DfT in England between April 2023 and August 2024 had at least one help point reported as not working when inspected.
• Operators’ approaches to testing their help points vary significantly, and we are concerned that operators may not be identifying and therefore fixing issues promptly.
• There is a risk that help point and freephone services are impacted by poor mobile coverage in remote areas. 
• Not all operators collect and use data from help point calls, and so are not able to assure the quality of their service or understand the needs of passengers using help points.

ORR has asked station operators to review their approaches to monitoring the availability of help points and to carry out a risk assessment for the unstaffed and partially staffed stations on their network that rely on mobile phone coverage for help point or freephone communication connectivity. In early 2025, ORR will seek to understand the actions being taken by station operators to address these areas.

To ensure continuity of services for passengers, operators should complete timely delivery of their plans for the switch-off of the landline network (PSTN) ahead of 2027 if they have not already done so.

Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform, said:

Notes to editors

1. Reliability of help points at stations – report
2. ORR holds station operators to account against requirements in relation to help points that are set out in operator licences and in health and safety legislation. The primary regulatory tool is the Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) licence condition, which includes the requirement for passengers to be able to request assistance or access service information from a help point or freephone number at stations where station staff are unavailable.
3. There are more than 4,500 help points at over 2,100 mainline railway stations in Great Britain, covering 83% of stations across the rail network.
4. ORR gathered and analysed quantitative and qualitative data from 21 operators of stations, who manage a combined total of 2,591 stations across the rail network and are responsible for both help point maintenance and service provision for passengers. The 21 station operators include Network Rail, which has help points at 11 stations.
5. ORR also drew on Department for Transport and Transport Scotland data from routine service quality audits, which include an assessment of help points at stations.
6. The Office of Rail and Road is the independent economic and safety regulator for Britain’s railways, and regulator of performance and efficiency for England’s Strategic Road Network.