Public register of rail passenger contracts
Contract documents for passenger railway services in England and details of how to request contract information.
Applies to England
Rail passenger contracts
Rail passenger contracts are legally binding contracts between the Secretary of State for Transport and train operating companies.
The rail contracts published on the public register may not be the most current documents held by the Department for Transport (DfT).
Rail contracts and ancillary legal agreements
- Abellio East Anglia Limited 2021 rail contract
- Abellio East Midlands Limited 2022 rail contract
- Chiltern Railway Company Limited 2021 rail contract
- First Greater Western 2022 rail contract
- First MTR South Western Trains Limited 2021 rail contract
- London North Eastern Railway 2020 OLR rail services contract
- Northern Railway 2022 OLR rail services contract
- South Eastern Railways 2021 OLR rail services contract
- Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern 2022 rail contract
- TransPennine Express Railways 2023 OLR rail services contract
- Trenitalia c2c Limited 2021 rail contract
- West Coast Partnership 2023 rail contract
- West Midlands Trains Limited 2021 rail contract
- XC Trains Limited 2023 rail contract
Rail passenger contract publication scheme
This publication scheme specifies the categories of rail contract information published and explains how to get that information. It expands on the DfT publication scheme.
Rail contracts are published as required by Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Classes of information we do not publish
Rail contracts are redacted to remove commercial, personal and security information.
We do not publish:
- information legally protected from disclosure
- information exempt under the Freedom of Information Act
- draft information
- information that is no longer readily available
- National Rail Contract Business Plans – the majority will be published on passenger rail train operator websites in a summary format
Classes of information we publish
We publish:
- National Rail Contracts – updates published annually if legally or commercially significant
- Rail Services Contracts – updates published annually if legally or commercially significant
- Business Plan Commitments (BPCs) – updates published annually if legally or commercially significant
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Train Service Requirement (TSR) – updates published annually
- Contravention Notices or Breach Notices – published on an ad hoc basis subject to legal advice
Publishing schedule
National Rail Contracts
Published annually. Includes significant updates to the rail contract, BPCs and TSR. Applies to:
- East Anglia Railway
- Essex Thameside Railway
- South Western Railway
- West Midlands Railway
- East Midlands Railway
- Chiltern Railway
- Great Western Railway
- TSGN Railway
- West Coast Partnership
- Cross Country Railway
Services Contracts (Public Sector Train Operators)
Published annually. Includes significant updates to the rail contract and TSR. Applies to:
- London North Eastern Railway
- Northern Railway
- South Eastern Railway
- TransPennine Railway
How to request information about rail passenger contracts
You can make a Freedom of Information request for rail contract information.
Read how to make an FOI request.
We are unable to make some of our contractual and legal documents compliant due to their complexity. See our accessible documents policy.
Other rail passenger contracts and regulatory documents
- DFT OLR Holdings Limited (DOHL) publication scheme
- London North Eastern Railway (LNER) publication scheme (PDF, 58.6KB)*
- South Eastern Railways publication scheme
- TransPennine Railway publication scheme
- Northern Railway Freedom of Information
- Office of Rail and Road (ORR) public register
- Transport Scotland’s projects, strategies and franchises for rail travel
- Transport for Wales
- Wales and Borders rail franchise 2018: devolution agreements
- High Speed 1 (HS1) regulatory documents
- Community rail
- Enforcement policy: rail franchise agreements and closures
- Rail procurement
- Rail franchise procurement
- DfT payments to passenger rail operators under emergency agreements
Contact us
You can write to us at:
Contract Changes Team
Passenger Services
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 4DR
Alternatively, email railpublicregister@dft.gov.uk.
Updates to this page
Last updated 7 May 2024 + show all updates
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TransPennine Express Railways 2023 OLR rail services contract added.
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Abellio East Midlands Limited 2022 rail contract added.
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First Greater Western 2022 and Northern Railway 2022 OLR rail contracts added.
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Northern Railway 2022 OLR rail contract added.
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Added Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern 2022 rail contract.
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Abellio East Midlands Limited 2019 rail contract added.
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Chiltern Railway Company Limited 2021 rail contract added.
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Added South Eastern Railways 2021 OLR rail contract.
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Added West Midlands Trains Limited 2021 rail contract.
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Added Abellio East Anglia Limited 2021 rail contract.
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XC Trains Limited 2020 rail contract published.
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Trenitalia c2c Limited 2021: rail contract added.
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'First TransPennine Express Limited 2021 rail contract' published.
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First published.