The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has today launched a consultation on proposals for an operating model for the future Rail Ombudsman.
The current consumer redress and dispute resolution scheme was established in November 2018 by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) on behalf of train companies.
ORR will take over responsibility from RDG for sponsoring the Rail Ombudsman, as proposed in the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, reinforcing the scheme’s independence.
The consultation contains:
- proposals for an operating model for the future Rail Ombudsman, which specifies the functions it will perform and to what standard, as well as the way it will be constituted, governed and held to account; and
- proposed licence modifications required as part of the ORR sponsorship process.
The feedback ORR receives will inform the specification for a competitive tender process later in 2022. This will identify a not-for-profit provider of the new model Rail Ombudsman.
An announcement of the winner of this competition is expected in early 2023.
Photo credit: ORR
