In April 2019 I wrote ‘Third degree murder’, about the Office of Rail and Road’s effective ban on extending the third rail network. After an eventful year it is time for a policy definition

According to the document ‘ORR’s policy on Third Rail Electrification Systems’, which references a 2012 RSSB statement, third rail electrification has eight times the equivalent fatalities of 25kV overhead, despite having half of the route mileage. The document states the regulator’s ‘presumption against’ any extension of the third rail network based on these shocking statistics.