Tag: Great British Railways

New dawn for rail as South Western services return to public hands

  • Watershed moment is the beginning of the end of 30 years of fragmentation, frustration and poor performance
  • Starting with SWR, publicly owned services will need to meet tough performance standards to be rebranded Great British Railways
  • Kicks off a ‘total reset’ of the railways to improve performance and win back public trust, boosting economic growth as part of the Plan for Change

A small piece of history has been made today (25th May) as South Western Railway (SWR) services become the first to transfer back into public control under the new legislation, ending almost 30 years of fragmentation and waste under privatisation.

Great British Railways won’t just be the name of the new nationally owned railway, it symbolises a complete reset that will mark the high standard of service and delivery the public should expect to receive.

Speaking from South Western Railway’s depot in Bournemouth, the Transport Secretary was clear that operators will have to earn the right to be called “Great British Railways”.

Starting with SWR, each operator will have to meet rigorous, bespoke performance standards on things like punctuality, cancellation and passenger experience, so we can rebuild a world class public service.

Two thirds of Britons have already expressed their support for public ownership, which will save the taxpayer up to £150 million a year in fees alone and ensure every penny can be spent for the benefit of passengers.

Public ownership is a vital first step in kickstarting the cultural reset needed to instil a sense of pride back into the railways, moving away from 14 siloed train operators, each with their own staff, incentives and competing commercial motivations. A new nationally owned body – Great British Railways – will manage track and train, with a sole focus of delivering for the public. As set out in the King’s Speech, we will introduce legislation to create Great British Railways this session.

By bringing track and train together Great British Railways will enable operations to run more seamlessly, bringing accountability and reliability back into the railways and in turn helping to reduce delays and cancellations. This will get more people using our trains to travel to work, education and for leisure – boosting both the national and regional economies as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.

Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander said: “Today is a watershed moment in our work to return the railways to the service of passengers. Trains from Waterloo to Weymouth, Bournemouth and Exeter, will be run by the public, for the public.

“But I know that most users of the railway don’t spend much time thinking about who runs the trains – they just want them to work. That’s why operators will have to meet rigorous performance standards and earn the right to be called Great British Railways.

“We have a generational opportunity to restore national pride in our railways and I will not waste it.”

This follows the passing of the Public Ownership Act in November – one of the first major pieces of legislation to be delivered under the current Westminster Government – showing its commitment to putting an end to unreliable services and private profiteering at the expense of passengers.

All passenger services operating under contracts with the Department will return to public ownership by the end of 2027 and will eventually be integrated into Great British Railways. Services are being transferred after contracts reach the end of their minimum term, or where they can be ended early, ensuring taxpayers pay no additional costs for breaking contracts.

Lawrence Bowman, Managing Director of Southern Western Railway said: “I’m excited to join and lead the excellent team at South Western Railway, who come to work every day to deliver the best possible service for our customers, and moving into public ownership will make it easier for them to do so.

“My immediate priority is to work with colleagues to develop a plan for SWR, that will make the most of the new simpler industry processes to deliver improvements in reliability and an increase in capacity.

“Over the coming years I will focus on ensuring SWR moves into Great British Railways as a truly integrated industry-leading operation that delivers an excellent service to its passengers and the local communities we serve.”

Ben Plowden, Chief Executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Today marks a turning point for Britain’s railways and it’s good to see the Government’s plans for reforming the railways continuing at pace.

“The creation of Great British Railways presents a once in a generation opportunity to change how the rail system works – structurally, financially and operationally – and put passengers and freight operators first.”

To commemorate this historic moment, the Secretary of State also unveiled a new coming soon logo on what will be the first publicly owned South Western Railway service to leave Waterloo at 06.14 today [Sunday 25 May], reiterating that our railways are coming back into the hands of the public.

Today [Sunday 25 May] digital screens at Waterloo will display the new ‘coming soon’ logo from 06.00 and a special Tannoy announcement celebrating the first publicly owned SWR service leaving the station. Displays at other SWR stations will also show the new ‘coming soon’ logo from today.

Scotland’s ScotRail service was re-nationalised on 1 April 2022.

Railways Revolution?

New public body Great British Railways will integrate the railways and deliver passenger-focused travel with simpler, modern fares and reliable services.

A quarter-century of fragmentation on the railways will end as they come under single, accountable national leadership, as the UK government today (20 May 2021) unveils a new plan for rail that prioritises passengers and freight.

Today, the government is announcing our plan for the transformation of Britain’s railways. The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail fully reflects the independent recommendations of Keith Williams, to whom the government is grateful for his thorough work since 2018.

Williams identified serious issues facing the railways before Covid struck; the pandemic has exacerbated some of these and added more. The government has provided unprecedented support to keep the railways running during the pandemic. Now, we look to the future – today we are setting out an ambitious plan to ensure that the system is ready to meet these challenges.

Today’s railway is fragmented – numerous bodies with different incentives lead to a lack of joined-up thinking. No single organisation is accountable for integration, planning and leadership across infrastructure, passenger services and freight operations.

Even before Covid, the franchising model for passenger services had become unsustainable, with multiple failing franchises, delayed competitions and dwindling market confidence. East Coast and Northern had already failed and the government had to step in.

To meet these challenges this government is introducing the biggest reform to the railway in 3 decades. We are committed to delivering a rail system that is the backbone of a cleaner, greener public transport system, offering passengers a better deal and greater value for money for taxpayers.

That means getting the trains to run on time, providing a better quality of service and having a firm control of the sector’s costs.

To bring about change on the scale that is needed:

We will end 3 decades of fragmentation by bringing the railways back together under a new public body with a single, national leadership and a new brand and identity, built on the famous double arrow. Great British Railways (GBR) will run and plan the network, own the infrastructure, and collect most fare revenue. It will procure passenger services and set most fares and timetables.

We will make the railways easier to use by simplifying fares and ticketing, providing more convenient ways to pay with contactless, smartphone and online, and protecting affordable walk-on fares and season tickets. Rail services will be better coordinated with each other and better integrated with other transport services such as trams, buses and bikes.

We will keep the best elements of the private sector that have helped to drive growth. GBR will contract private partners to operate the trains to the timetable it sets. These contracts will include strong incentives for operators to run high-quality services and increase passenger demand.

The contracts are not one-size-fits-all, so as demand recovers, long-distance routes will have more commercial freedom to attract new passengers. Freight is already a nimble, largely private sector market and will remain so, while benefiting from the national coordination, new safeguards and rules-based access system that will help it thrive.

We will grow, not shrink, the network, continuing to invest tens of billions of pounds in new lines, trains, services and electrification.

We will make the railways more efficient. Simpler structures and clear leadership will make decision-making easier and more transparent, reduce costs and make it cheaper to invest in modern ways to pay, upgrade the network and deliver new lines. The adversarial blame culture will end and everyone across the sector, including train operators, will be incentivised to work towards common goals, not least managing costs.

These changes will transform the railways for the better. They will also make the sector more accountable to taxpayers and government.

Government ministers will have strong levers to set direction, pursue government policies and oversee delivery to ensure the railways are managed effectively and spend public money efficiently. Great British Railways will be empowered – a single, familiar brand with united, accountable leadership.

These reforms represent a bold new offer to passengers – of punctual and reliable services, simpler tickets and a modern, green and innovative railway that meets the needs of the nation.

In summary, our ambitious rail transformation programme will deliver 10 key outcomes:

  • a modern passenger experience
  • a retail revolution
  • new ways of working with the private sector
  • economic recovery and financial sustainable railways
  • greater control for local people and places
  • cleaner, greener railways
  • bold, new opportunities for rail freight
  • increased speed of delivery and efficient enhancements
  • skilled, innovative workforce
  • a simpler industry structure

This is not renationalisation, which failed the railways, rather it is simplification. While Great British Railways acts as the guiding mind to coordinate the whole network, our plan will see greater involvement of the private sector – private companies will be contracted to run the trains, with stronger competition to run services.

Our reforms will also unleash huge new opportunities for the private sector to innovate in areas such as ticket retailing and data that can be used by passengers to better plan their journeys.

We look forward to building this new vision for Britain’s railways in collaboration with the sector. We are proud to set out plans to support our railways and serve our country with a system that is efficient, sustainable and run in the public interest.

Grant Shapps Transport Secretary said: “Our railways were born and built to serve this country, to forge stronger connections between our communities and provide people with an affordable, reliable and rapid service. Years of fragmentation, confusion and over-complication have seen that vision fade and passengers failed. That complicated and broken system ends today.

“The pandemic has seen the government take unprecedented steps to protect services and jobs. It’s now time to kickstart reforms that give the railways solid and stable foundations for the future, unleashing the competitive, innovative and expert abilities of the private sector, and ensuring passengers come first.

“Great British Railways marks a new era in the history of our railways. It will become a single familiar brand with a bold new vision for passengers – of punctual services, simpler tickets and a modern and green railway that meets the needs of the nation.”

Rocio Concha, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Which?, said: “Before the pandemic, passengers had been treated as an afterthought for too long on the railways – so it is good that the government’s plans seek to improve the passenger experience on trains, bring innovation to the ticketing system and make it easier to get compensation.

“The true test of this plan will be whether passengers see real improvements to the way their train services operate, not only adapting to new needs but addressing the old challenges that could cause so much disruption to the lives of those reliant on the railways.”