The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has published a discussion document outlining how it plans to ensure railway licences are updated and ready for the reformed railway.

While Great British Railways (GBR) will have a newly drafted, single licence issued by the secretary of state, ORR said it would continue to be responsible for licensing the rest of the sector, including devolved, open access and freight operators. This includes around 50 non-GBR licence holders, holding some 90 licences in total. These licences are for operating different railway assets (for example, trains or stations) not controlled by GBR.

ORR added that it was seeking to ensure non-GBR operators’ existing licences were updated and ready for GBR and rail reform. Consumer standards and industry-wide systems are the main areas where the regulator has highlighted changes to licences are most likely.

The rail regulator said this would support “clear and coherent standards and accountability across the whole sector.”

ORR will continue to be responsible for monitoring and enforcing all railway licences. For both GBR and non-GBR operators, railway licences will provide the basis for ORR enforcement and remain an “important mechanism” for implementing regulatory requirements and ensuring effective accountability arrangements across the sector.

Updates to licences are reportedly likely to be necessary to reflect the Passenger Watchdog’s new role setting consumer standards across the whole industry in areas such as passenger information, accessibility and complaints, and to ensure these standards are binding on both GBR and non-GBR operators.

ORR said that in addition, as GBR takes on industry-wide systems and functions currently managed by the Rail Delivery Group, licence conditions relating to industry coordination will need to reflect GBR’s new role.

To enable a targeted and smooth transition to GBR however, the regulator said it was focusing on the changes necessary to support an effective licensing framework in the context of the reformed railway rather than reopening all existing licence conditions.

Stephanie Tobyn, Director, Strategy and Reform said: “This is part of ORR playing its role in getting the rail industry ready for GBR day one.

“Licences may sound technical, but they set out the fundamental principles and processes through which passenger, freight and station operators work and will continue to be essential for us to hold these bodies to account on behalf of passengers and freight customers.”

This discussion document is the first stage of ORR’s engagement on this topic. It is planning a formal policy consultation for the autumn, aligned with the Department for Transport’s consultation on the GBR licence, so that stakeholders can consider both sets of proposals together.

Subject to the passage of the Railways Bill and progress on the GBR licence, a statutory consultation on specific licence modifications will follow, which ORR said it aimed to complete ahead of GBR Day One.