Rail regulator calls for better information on board rail replacement bus services entering disrupted festive period

With major engineering works set to disrupt rail journeys over Christmas and New Year, passengers will rightly expect reliable and consistent information about replacement services.

Last year, the regulator’s report highlighted gaps in information for passengers; both when planning and making journeys that involve rail replacement services.  ORR called on the industry to take action as a result.

The regulator’s follow-up fieldwork this year found:

• information when planning journeys in advance is generally accurate and of good quality
• improvement in the information provided at the stations where passengers change to rail replacement vehicles, with the majority of services now appearing on station customer information screens
• new initiatives, led by industry, to develop real-time tracking of rail replacement vehicles and to produce videos explaining the impacts of planned disruption on passenger journeys

However, the regulator said there had been little improvement in the information actually provided on the rail replacement journey itself, with the final destination and intermediate stops too often not displayed or announced on the bus.

There were also instances when it was unclear to passengers that they could still reach their final destination where a portion of their journey would be made via a rail replacement service. This is because the information at the station advertised only the first leg of the journey.

ORR has therefore now set out further recommendations to industry to build on the progress made. Operators will be asked to review their approach to ensuring that destinations are consistently displayed on rail replacement buses and coaches, and intermediate stops are announced throughout the journey and demonstrate to the regulator how their processes are fit for purpose. There will be an industry workshop in early 2025 to discuss the key findings and recommendations from this report.

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

Notes to Editors

1. Passenger information when rail replacement services are in use follow-up – 2024 report
2. Passenger information when rail replacement services are in use – 2023 report
3. Train operators have committed to delivering a set of customer information pledges across all areas of a passenger journey, including when rail replacement services are in use. ORR has accepted these pledges as the regulated Code of Practice required under the Passenger Information licence condition.