Secretary of State for Transport (): Today I am announcing
that I will be instructing the CEO of Network Rail, the Director
General for Rail Services in the Department for Transport, and
the CEO of DfT OLR Holdings Ltd (DOHL) to establish a Shadow
Great British Railways. As the main organisations responsible for
the operational railway, they will be working in closer
collaboration, bringing together track and train to deliver for
passengers and freight users, ahead of legislation to create
Great British Railways (GBR) as an arm's length body.
Our manifesto committed to putting passengers at the heart of the
service by reforming the railways and bringing them into public
ownership. Great British Railways will be created to deliver a
unified system that focuses on reliable, affordable,
high-quality, and efficient services; along with ensuring safety
and accessibility.
GBR will put passengers back at the heart of the railways and
introduce new measures to protect their interests. This will
include paving the way for a powerful new passenger watchdog, the
Passenger Standards Authority, to independently monitor standards
and champion improvement in service performance against a range
of measures. Great British Railways will reform the ticketing
system, to make it simpler for passengers, drive innovation
across the network, replace the current myriad of ticket types
and maximise passenger growth.
There will be a statutory duty on GBR to promote the use of rail
freight, alongside an overall growth target set by the Secretary
of State. The Government will include safeguards to ensure that
freight operators continue to receive fair access to the network.
Open access operators have a proven track record in driving
competition and better passenger outcomes, and where there is a
case that open access operators can add value and capacity to the
network, they will be able to.
While primary legislation is required to initiate the change to
public ownership and establish GBR, this Government will begin
delivering improvements for passengers and freight users straight
away. That is why I am taking the immediate step of standing up
Shadow Great British Railways today. The three organisations will
work collaboratively, taking a whole-system approach to
decision-making and driving improvement, whilst retaining their
existing accountabilities and duties.
We can achieve change on how organisations work together quickly.
But change on the ground, for those who use the railway, will
take time. Our railways are fragmented and have been for decades,
suffering from a short-sighted investment approach and not
providing the services passengers and freight customers need.
Delivering change for passengers will rely on building new levels
of trust, openness and transparency across the industry, with
diverse teams brought together that reflect the customers and
communities we serve – setting the tone for reform and enabling
us to create a modern and affordable railway for everyone in
Britain.
I will expect Shadow Great British Railways to be passenger
focused and unlock barriers to delivery. I will also expect it to
work alongside my team and I with rail stakeholders and partners
across Great Britain, including national and regional
governments, mayors, the trade unions, train operators, passenger
and freight representative groups, the supply chain, the
regulator and railway staff to deliver improvements. As part of
the plans for reform, this includes the need to speed up training
for drivers and collaborate with the sector to build resilience
and improve productivity.
I will be writing to the Chief Executives and the Director
General to set their initial priorities and how I expect them to
work together as Shadow Great British Railways.
