Rail strategy adds little new policy, says Transport Committee chair

“Rail passengers don’t need the Secretary of State to tell them that the system is ‘creaking’ or ‘bursting at the seams.’ But it is encouraging that, despite what it said at the time, the Department has taken on board some of the recommendations made by the Transport Committee in the last Parliament.

“Much of what this document contains has previously been announced - it adds little to what we already know but pulls lots of initiatives together in one place. It still fails to tell us how today’s railway will become a railway fit for the 21st century. In the main, the solutions it offers fix problems of the Government’s own making; for example, letting the mega-franchise for TSGN or the problems on the East Coast main line.

“I expect that the Transport Committee, which I chair, will want to look closely at many of these issues and pursue the Department to provide much more detail on how its strategic vision will be delivered.”