British railway technical manuals

Documents of relevance to passengers

Distributed by National Rail Enquiries

• The National Rail Conditions of Travel, 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 Rail Delivery Group. It must be available for inspection at any ticket office selling tickets otherwise its terms may not be enforceable.
• 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 as a CD-ROM, rather than as a set of printed manuals.
• *The Rail Links Manual, for combined rail and bus/ferry fares, means the volume of the National Fares Manual entitled "Rail Links Information" produced by the Rail Delivery Group three times each year.

  Produced by the [Rail Delivery Group]

• The National Routeing Guide, which defines which tickets are valid on which routes.

  Produced by [Network Rail]

• 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. New editions are normally published every Spring and Autumn.

  Available on the UK Government website

• The railway by-laws, which exist under the Transport Act 2000.

  Documents which relate solely to the operation of the network

• Train Planning Rules. Used by those who plan the logistics of operating the network
• Network Rail standards. Documents that specify requirements directed towards securing the safe and efficient operation of the rail infrastructure. Track standards were supported by the 'Business Critical Rules Programme' pilot in June 2012.
• The Sectional Appendix is the definitive source of information on UK railway infrastructure for specific regions.
• The Weekly Operating Notice provides information of Safety Notices, Temporary Speed Restrictions, Engineering Arrangements, Signalling & permanent Way alterations and General Instructions & notices for specific regions.
• The Periodical Operating Notice provides a long term summary of the Weekly Operating Notices for specific regions.
• The Special Traffic Notice provides weekly information on line possessions and changes to train timing for specific regions.

  Documents produced by the ORR">Office of Rail Regulation">ORR (formerly the Rail Regulator)

• Railway Safety Principles and Guidance.

  Documents produced by the [Rail Safety and Standards Board]

• The Rule Book provides definitions of railway equipment and operating procedures.
• Railway Group Standards. Several documents on current and former standards.

Footnotes