Freedom of information (FOI)

In some cases, we won’t be able provide the information we’re asked for. FOIA and the EIR provide exemptions that we can use if we think disclosure would cause specific, genuine harm. For example, we sometimes need to use these if the information requested:

•  would prejudice the commercial interests of any person
• was provided to us in confidence
• is personal information about other individuals
•  is intended for publication in the future
• would endanger the physical or mental health or safety of an individual or group of individuals
• would inhibit the free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views.

We may also refuse requests if the information is reasonably accessible by other means or if the cost of locating, retrieving and extracting the information would exceed £450. In these cases we’ll provide advice and assistance to help you refine your request and bring it within this limit.

If there is a reason why we can’t provide all the information that you have requested, we will explain the exemption in our response. We’ll also tell you how to appeal if you disagree with our decision.

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled you can make a complaint or request a review of our decision.

You’ll need to contact us within a reasonable time frame, generally no more than 40 working days after you’ve received our response to your request.

Please contact Network Rail’s FOI Compliance and Appeals team by email at ComplianceandAppealsFOI@networkrail.co.uk.

You can also write to the team at:

Freedom of Information Team – Compliance and Appeals
Network Rail
The Quadrant
Elder Gate
Milton Keynes
MK9 1EN

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

You can also contact the ICO through the ‘Make a Complaint’ section of the ICO website.

The relevant section to select will be “Official or Public Information”.

If you are looking for information about yourself or on behalf of someone else (for example CCTV footage of yourself, details of a complaint you’ve made, information about a job application you’ve made, etc), it is very unlikely that we would be able to provide that information to you under the FOI Act. You may however be able to obtain it through a Subject Access Request (SAR) under the Data Protection Act 2018. Details of our SAR process, the form we ask you to complete and your right to access information about yourself can be found on our data protection page.

There are certain types of requests that we know from experience are likely to result in refusal. We treat each request on its own merits and would never want to deny anyone their rights under FOI by making a pre-emptive decision. We would, however, like to make you aware of certain categories of request that have frequently resulted in refusals in the past. Reading this guidance might help you to decide whether you should proceed with your request.

Signalling diagrams

Network Rail holds different types of signalling diagrams, and we regularly receive requests for these. While we do carefully consider every request, please be aware that we are unlikely to be able to provide detailed signalling diagrams. This is because signalling diagrams contain detailed operational information that could be used by terrorists to attack the network.

Station announcements

We get a lot of requests for station announcements. In almost all cases we have to refuse these requests either because the cost of gathering the information would be too great or because putting the information into the public domain would commercially prejudice the third-party companies that own the announcements. The one exception to this rule is the files played on our ASL systems in Scotland, as these were created by Network Rail and feature our staff. We are able to provide the majority of these on request.

There is also a small sample of station announcements that can be downloaded from the transparency pages of our website. You will need to scroll down to ‘our stations’ and ‘station announcements

The information we supply through FOI disclosures and our Transparency page is provided under the Open Government Licence.

The Open Government Licence is a simple set of terms and conditions that facilitates the re-use of a wide range of public sector information free of charge.

You are encouraged to use and re-use the information that is supplied to you under this licence freely and flexibly, with only a few conditions, which are set out in the Open Government Licence. Use and re-use is subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced Network Rail materials:

‘Contains Network Rail data/materials © [year]’

Please note that this licence does not cover:

• personal data in the information;
• information that has not been accessed by way of publication or disclosure under information access legislation (including the Freedom of Information Acts in the UK and Scotland) by or with the consent of the information provider;
• departmental or public sector organisation logos, crests and the Royal Arms, except where they form an integral part of a document or dataset;
• military insignia;
• third-party rights the information provider is not authorised to license;
• other intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks and design rights; and
• identity documents such as the British Passport.