| Department for Transport
| The Department for Transport is responsible for overseeing the delivery of Britain's transport system. Following the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) under the Railways Act 2005, from July to October 2005 it took on the SRA's strategic and franchising roles in relation to the railway. |
| Delay minutes
| Delay minutes are measured for a single train against its timetabled journey time between two points where three minutes of delay or more are incurred. The Delay Attribution Guide, produced by a board comprising representatives from Network Rail and Train Operating Companies, gives guidance on the proper coding and attribution of delays. |
| Franchise Agreement
| The agreement between the Department (and formerly the SRA or OPRAF) and the Train Operating Company setting out the terms and conditions on which the TOC can operate train services. |
| HLOS
| The High Level Output Statement (HLOS) sets out for the ORR information about the improvements in safety, reliability and capacity that the Secretary of State wants to secure during the ORR review period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2014 (CP4). The HLOS was published as Appendix A, Railways Act 2005 Statement accompanying the July 2007 White Paper Delivering a Sustainable Railway. |
| Mystery Shopping
| Mystery shopping is a tool used by market research companies to measure quality of service or gather specific information about the condition of passenger facilities. Mystery shoppers in the role of customers perform specific tasks - such as purchasing a product, asking questions, itemising service condition or behaving in a certain way - and then provide detailed reports in an agreed format to record their experiences. |
| National Passenger Survey
| A survey carried out since 1999 every six months by consultants commissioned and funded, from 2005, by Passenger Focus (the national rail passengers' consumer watchdog), and previously by the Strategic Rail Authority, to monitor passenger satisfaction with train services. It is based on a sample of between 25,000 and 30,000 self-completed questionnaires from across the country. |
| Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF)
| A non-ministerial department, which awarded the franchises to run passenger rail services by March 1997. It was superseded by the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority in July 1999. |
| Office of Rail Regulation (ORR)
| An independent statutory body established on 5 July 2004 under the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003. Its primary economic function is to apply independent, fair and effective regulation to ensure that Network Rail manages the network efficiently and in a way that meets the needs of its users. ORR secures compliance with relevant health and safety law; licenses operators of railway assets setting the terms of access by operators to the network and other railway facilities; and enforces competition law in the rail sector. It replaced the Rail Regulator in July 2004. |
| Passengers in Excess of Capacity (PiXC) | Passengers in Excess of Capacity (PiXC): Passengers in Excess of Capacity (PiXC) - the measure is derived from the number of passengers travelling in excess of capacity on all services, divided by the total number of people travelling, and expressed as a percentage. Capacity is deemed to be the number of standard class seats on the train for journeys of more than 20 minutes. For journeys of 20 minutes or less, an allowance for standing room is also made. The allowance for standing varies with the type of rolling stock but, for modern sliding door stock, it is typically approximately 35 per cent of the number of seats. |
| Premia
| Sums paid to the Department by certain Train Operating Companies in consideration of their franchise to operate passenger rail services. |
| Public Performance Measurement (PPM) | The measure of train punctuality, setting out the percentage of scheduled trains that arrive at their destinations within 10 minutes of their planned arrival times (or within five minutes for shorter journeys) including all delays and cancellations, regardless of cause. |
| Regulated Fares
| Standard class season tickets and those listed below are subject to price regulation capped at the retail price index (rpi) plus one percent. If significant investment in new services has been provided - for example in Kent - a higher margin above RPI may apply, RPI plus three per cent in the Kent case. |
| Pursuant to the Railways Act 1993 and Transport Act 2000 there are currently two types of fares regulation: | |
| Commuter Fare regulation
| (including standard day singles and returns and season tickets (weekly, quarterly, annual) within the London Travelcard zone and certain other major suburban areas such as Leeds and Manchester and |
| Protected Fares regulation
| (including: weekly season tickets other than those included in the Commuter Fare's basket, Saver tickets for journeys where a weekly season/Saver ticket existed in February 2003). Commuter Fares and Protected Fares are regulated through a mechanism called a 'fares basket', where a limit or 'cap' is applied to a weighted average of the relevant fares on each train operator. Fares policy was reviewed by the SRA in 2003, and the cap on each operator's Commuter Fares basket and Protected Fares basket was set at the 2002-3 value of each basket, increased by RPI+1% in January 2004 and cumulatively each year after that. TOCs have a degree of flexibility to adjust individual fares within their fares basket by more or less than the average increase for the basket, as long as the value of the fares basket as a whole does not exceed the cap, and as long as the increase in any one individual fare within that basket does not rise more than six per cent above the rate of inflation compared with the price charged for that fare in the previous year. |
| Secure Station Accreditation
| A voluntary accreditation scheme launched in 1998 and directed by the Department for Transport, in partnership with the British Transport Police and Crime Concern, which sets standards for station design and crime management. |
| Strategic Rail Authority (SRA)
| The Transport Act 2000 set up the SRA to provide strategic direction and leadership for Britain's railways, let and manage passenger franchises and freight grants, disburse public funds, develop and sponsor major infrastructure projects, and to be responsible for some aspects of consumer protection. It operated under Directions and Guidance (D&G) from the Secretary of State for Transport, the Scottish Minister for Transport and the Mayor of London. It formally came into being on 1 February 2001 and was abolished by the Railways Act 2005. |
| Subsidies
| Sums paid by the Department to certain Train Operating Companies to support their provision of rail services. |
| Target Revenue
| The revenue that, under the terms of the franchise contract, a train operator is required to generate, or deemed to generate for a specified period. After the specified period if the train operator fails to deliver 98 per cent of the target revenue the risk is shared with the Department. Actual revenue that exceeds the target revenue by more than two per cent is shared between the Department and the train operator throughout the term of the franchise. |
| Track Access Agreement
| Agreement between a train operator and Network Rail setting out conditions for use of the network. The Office of Rail Regulation regulates the agreement. |
| Track Access Charges
| Payments made by train operators to Network Rail meet its cost of operating, maintaining and renewing rail infrastructure. The Office of Rail Regulation determines the level of charges for five-year control periods after an Access Charges Review. The Department for Transport meets some of these costs through grants it provides to Network Rail. |
| TOC | Train operating company |