The Office of Rail and Road has published a letter it has sent to Network Rail, in which it warns that the condition of infrastructure like bridges and tunnels is not being monitored properly, to the point where Network Rail is now being told to take ‘specific actions’ to comply with health and safety law.

The letter, from HM chief inspector of railways Richard Hines, is addressed to Network Rail’s group safety and engineering director Martin Frobisher.

It is a follow-up to the ORR’s review of submissions made by Network Rail in November, and ‘confirms the regulatory action that we are taking as a result. In summary, we are not satisfied with the progress being made.’

The ORR first expressed concern about the monitoring of structures almost two years ago, in May 2023. Its letter continues: ‘In July 2024, we reported mixed progress at the end of CP6. While regions such as Eastern were on track with their recovery trajectories, others, such as North-West & Central and Southern, did not show significant improvement.’

Mr Hines says: ‘A lack of up-to-date structural assessments means that you lack essential information about your assets. This could affect your ability to make appropriate decisions about the management of your infrastructure. This could lead to unaddressed risks to train performance and public safety. Additionally, the failure to conduct risk assessments for all assets that are non-compliant with your own standards means that you cannot demonstrate that any resultant safety risks are being identified and managed.’

Although Network Rail had made proposals about recovering the backlog, Mr Hines continues: ‘ These proposals lack sufficient detail to give confidence that they will be delivered, and recovery periods are unacceptably long.’

A further letter is expected which will set out the actions that Network Rail must take in order to comply with health and safety law. Mr Hines concludes: ‘Failure to take these actions will likely result in enforcement action being taken without further recourse.’

The ORR said: ‘We are not satisfied that Network Rail is doing all that it should to meet its own standards of recording and monitoring all of its assets. That is why we have taken action, which Network Rail is taking seriously.’

Martin Frobisher responded: ‘We have a comprehensive plan in place for the delivery of our structures inspections and assessments. Progress has been made but there is still much more to do, and we are working closely with the ORR and our regional engineers to prioritise this activity and move forward with our plans.’

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