Railway reform
“Proposals on railway reform will be brought forward.”
- The Government will publish a White Paper on the Williams Review recommendations later this autumn.
- Following the publication of the White Paper, the Government will start implementing reforms from 2020, prioritising improvements for passengers.
- In September, the Prime Minister announced plans to give Northern leaders more of a say on how the railway is run across the region. This proposal was based on the initial conclusions of the Williams review set out in July.
- The Williams Review is the first comprehensive review of the railway in a generation, with a clear commitment from the Government to bring in root and branch change. The Review was tasked with making ambitious proposals to reform the rail industry and franchising model.
- The Review is focused on reforms that will put passengers at the heart of the railway, provide value for taxpayers and deliver economic, social and environmental benefits across Britain. It will focus on five key areas:
○ Trains running on time. A clear focus on customer service excellence, driven by performance measures to bring about genuine behavioural and cultural change.
○ Simplified fares and ticketing to create a modern railway to promote innovation and customer-focussed improvements across the network, including the further roll out of pay-as-you-go.
○ A new industry structure, reducing fragmentation, better aligning track and train, creating clear accountability and a greater distance between Government and running the day to day railway.
○ A new commercial model that lets train operators get on with running services in the interest of passengers and allows greater flexibility and long-term incentives for creativity and innovation.
○ Proposals on leadership, skills, diversity and increased engagement, to better involve the rail workforce in the development of the sector in the long term, and to ensure the sector reflects modern working practices