The
Office
of
Rail
and
Road


has
begun
sponsoring
the
Rail
Ombudsman,
in
line
with
a
commitment
in
the
2021
Plan
for
Rail.

The
ORR
will
now
hold
the
Ombudsman
to
account
for
independent
and
impartial
provision
of
its
service.

The
Ombudsman
is
the
last
of
port
of
call
for
unhappy
passengers
who
have
not
reached
an
agreement
with
the
relevant
operator
or
the
applicable
passenger
watchdog
–
Transport
Focus
or
London
Travelwatch.

The
ORR
has
updated
how
the
Ombudsman
operates,
including
new
arrangements
to
make
the
service
more
accessible.

The
changes
include
the
appointment
of
a
non-executive
director
with
experience
of
disability
and
the
training
of
Ombudsman
staff
about
accessibility.
There
are
also
new
ways
for
passengers
to
contact
the
Ombudsman,
and
a
programme
of
upgrades
to
processes
and
systems
to
make
the
service
easier
to
use.

Since
the
service
was
introduced
in
2018,
the
Rail
Ombudsman
has
dealt
with
more
than
15,000
cases.

The
ORR’s
director
of
strategy,
policy
and
reform
Stephanie
Tobyn
said:
‘The
Rail
Ombudsman
provides
confidence
to
passengers
that
there
is
an
independent
body
to
turn
to
where
they
are
unable
to
resolve
a
complaint
with
their
train
or
station
operator.
In
ORR’s
new
oversight
role
we’ve
improved
the
model
for
how
the
Ombudsman
service
operates
to
better
serve
the
needs
of
passengers.’