The Consultation Handbook provides guidance for route and project communications teams undertaking public consultation to support rail projects in early development.

It demonstrates Network Rail’s commitment to transparent, accurate and customer-focussed communications with the public. In particular, Network Rail are committed to thorough, timely consultations with the communities which may be affected by our proposals for new rail schemes.

The handbook sets out guiding principles for public consultations at Network Rail which should be applied across the organisation. It’s divided into five main sections:

• Introduction – what consultation is, when it’s needed and who it’s aimed at.
• Preparation –  key steps to developing a consultation strategy.
• Production – guidance on a standard approach to planning and delivering a Network Rail public consultation.
• Evaluation – collating and reviewing all comments and developing a consultation report for submission.
• Appendices – including a consultation flowchart, collateral examples, and contact details.

The handbook is owned and updated by the National Consultations Team. If you have any questions, please contact Consultations@networkrail.co.uk.