British railway technical manuals
A copy of the 2002 edition of the National Routeing Guide
The railway network of Great Britain is operated with the aid of a number of documents, which have been sometimes termed "technical manuals",[1] because they are more detailed than the pocket-timetables which the public encounters every day. Historically, they were classified PRIVATE and not for publication, however since rail privatisation they are now more widely available, mostly in digital form, because they are produced centrally and not by the regional rail operators.
Documents of relevance to passengers
Distributed by National Rail Enquiries
A copy of the 1996/1997 edition (No. 64) of the National Fares Manual (South area)
- The National Rail Conditions of Carriage, which set out the customer's rights and responsibilities when travelling on the National Rail network. Every ticket purchased is a contract, and this document is the terms of that contract. It is produced by the Rail Settlement Plan, part of the ATOC. It must be available for inspection at any ticket office selling tickets otherwise its terms may not be enforceable.[2]
- National Fares Manual, which contains all available fares on the network, primarily of use for tracking cheaper ticket combinations. This is now published and sold by TSO (formerly The Stationery Office) as a CD-ROM, rather than as a set of printed manuals.
Produced by the ATOC
This body represents 26 train operating companies that provide passenger railway services
- The National Routeing Guide, which defines which tickets are valid on which routes.
Produced by Network Rail
Network Rail owns and operates Britain's rail infrastructure[4]
- The National Rail Timetable. This was available to the public in printed form until May 2007, and is now available from Network Rail in PDF format only.
Produced by The Stationery Office with permission from Network Rail
- GB Rail Timetable, published from December 2007 (originally as "UK Rail Timetable", although Northern Ireland was not included).[5] New editions are normally published every Spring and Autumn.
Available on the UK government Web site
- The railway by-laws, which exist under the Transport Act 2000.
Documents which relate solely to the operation of the network
Also by Network Rail
- Train Planning Rules. Used by those who plan the logistics of operating the network
- Network Rail standards. Documents that specified requirements directed towards securing the safe and efficient operation of the rail infrastructure. Superseded by the Business Critical Rules Programme in June 2012.
Documents produced by the ORR (formerly the Rail Regulator)
- Railway Safety Principles and Guidance ("The Blue Book").
Documents produced by the Rail Safety and Standards Board
- British Railway Rule Book. Several documents with full details of operating practices.
- Railway Group Standards. Several documents on current and former standards.
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) produce a document Guidance on Infrastructure
Footnotes
- ↑ National Rail Enquiries calls them this on their website, referring to the NRCoC in particular
- ↑ Under EU law: any terms and conditions must be notified before the contract is struck. The unavailability of those terms may turn them into a retrospective change which the courts will not enforce. A statement referring to the terms and conditions on the ticket is enough to notify the passenger providing they are actually available.
- ↑ Multi-Operator Travel Card Agreement Anytown, March 2006
- ↑ Network Rail - Home
- ↑ The Stationery Office, which produces the GB Rail Timetable; information on the current edition searchable on this site.
External links
See also
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, October 22, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.