Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what sanctions are taken against Network Rail when engineering works overrun causing disruption to the rail network.

Network Rail is responsible for the day to day operation of the rail network and the delivery of enhancements. The independent regulator, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) will continue to monitor closely Network Rail’s performance delivery on the Anglia route, which will cover all the causes of delay, including the impact of overrunning engineering works.

The Track Access Contracts between Network Rail and train operators provide for Network Rail to pay compensation to an operator in the event that train services cannot operate or are delayed due to engineering works or disruption outside that operator’s control. The Department for Transport does not hold details of the timing or number of such payments, which are a commercial matter between the parties directly concerned, overseen by the ORR. The ORR publishes the annual totals of these payments at route level on its data portal:

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/345da3b9-b9ac-449a-aace-8298c5b39e2b

The ORR concluded its assessment of Network Rail’s performance between 2009 and 2014 in July. Since Network Rail did not deliver its funded obligations, and to address issues which have disrupted services for passengers, the company has committed at least £25m extra funds to improve the resilience of the network in London and the South East, with plans to be in place by December. In the Long Distance sector, the company fell significantly short of its funded target. Under an order made by the ORR in 2012, taking account of issues beyond Network Rail's control, the company has been asked to return £53.1m to funders for failure to deliver its agreed obligations in 2013-14. The Government is reinvesting this sum to improve on-train mobile services for passengers.