A new report – published days before the New Year rail fare rises
come into effect – is calling for an end to franchising and for
city regions to have more control over their rail services.
Change is needed to bring to an end the years of poor services
passengers have endured, and ensure the railways deliver social,
environmental and economic benefits to communities.
The
future of rail, published by transport charity Campaign
for Better Transport, examines the current failings of the
railways and looks at what steps the Government needs to take to
get rail back on track.
In addition to the recommendations on franchising and devolution,
the report also calls for a new national rail policy and a new
public body to deliver it, as well as major fares and ticketing
reform.
Darren Shirley, Chief Executive of Campaign for Better Transport,
said:
"Passengers have suffered unreliable, expensive, overcrowded
trains for too long: Britain’s railways need to change. The
Government has committed to end the current structures and
franchising system which are unwieldy, unaccountable,
unimaginative and ineffective, providing weak alignment with
society’s needs, with neither passengers nor taxpayers getting
value for money.
"Our research has found that the railways have the potential to
deliver huge economic, social and environmental benefits to
communities and the country as a whole, but in order to deliver
these objectives the focus of public policy and government
action, as well as the system itself, needs to change
fundamentally. The Government must now seize its chance to put an
end to nightmare rail journeys by delivering a new national rail
policy and the means to implement it, along with comprehensive
fares reform in its forthcoming White Paper."
The Future of Rail report recommends:
- A new national rail policy which rethinks how the railways
are run and what they exist to do, including setting of social,
environmental and economic outcomes the railway should deliver
against.
- Devolution of procurement and oversight of services, with the
management of regional networks devolved to city authorities and
sub-regional transport bodies which are better placed to oversee
services and better integrate the railway with wider local
transport networks.
- Replacing the current overly complex franchise system with a
much more flexible outcome-based one which allows competitive
intercity services, concessions for commuter areas, and
specialist agreements for areas seeing significant change and
investment.
- Major fares and ticketing reform with speedier implementation
of account-based tickets, part-time season tickets, pay as you go
travel, multimodal and zonal fares, as well as ending the
RPI-linked annual increase.
- Growing new sources of funding for the railway in addition to
the farebox income, such as land value capture and the Community
Infrastructure Levy to raise revenue from development.
- A new industry structure with a publicly funded arm’s-length
body to manage rail planning and the overall use of the network,
including delivering national policy.
The report draws on the evidence submitted by the charity to the
Williams Rail Review, which was set up to transform Britain’s
railways. The Review, which is due to be published in the new
year, will form the basis of a White Paper which will set out the
Government’s future rail policy.
The Future of Rail is being published a few days before the
annual rail fare increase comes into force. From 1 January
passengers will pay on average 2.7 per cent more for their
tickets. Campaign for Better Transport is calling for the current
RPI-linked annual increase to be dropped in favour of a system
which keeps rises to a minimum and more accurately reflects
inflation.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1. Read The
future of rail
2. Read Campaign for Better Transport’s evidence to
the Williams
Review Call for Evidence
