A Railway fit for Britain's future
Published 18 February 2025
Our country needs an efficient, modern railway that kickstarts growth and frees the untapped potential of our towns, cities, and businesses. An affordable, reliable railway brings new markets and job opportunities closer to those who stand ready to make the most of them. It makes education, healthcare, public services and even just the support of family and friends more accessible to those who need it. A railway that offers a genuine alternative to road travel, combined with a thriving rail freight sector, means cleaner air and less congestion for everyone.
Great British Railways (GBR)will unite track and train at a route level, with integrated management and joined up decision-making to support improved reliability, passenger and freight growth and cost savings. This will also make it more responsive to the needs of local areas. GBR will .. be set up to ensure the railway delivers for local users and communities, rather than focusing solely on the national level.
This will include working closely with devolved leaders and local partners, drawing on their experiences and expertise. But it is also vital that devolved governments and Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) can integrate local railways with other transport modes. They need the ability to create unified transport networks that serve their cities and regions, much like Transport for London.
Other tiers of local government in England will benefit from empowered local GBR business units that are outward-facing and engage local authorities on their priorities and Local Transport Plans. This will include working with sub-national transport bodies (STBs) on matters of wider regional interest.
This will bring decision-making as close as possible to local communities while recognising that – as a nationally integrated network – the railway’s governance must balance local, commuter, regional, national, international and high-speed services, as well as the role of freight.
Partnerships will range across a spectrum depending on the ambitions and institutional capability of partners, which will include engagement on strategic priorities, close collaboration on the delivery of rail elements of Local Transport Plans and opportunities for partners to invest in the railway.
Deeper local commissioning partnerships, where an MSA could take on service specification responsibilities and revenue risk, could also be agreed where financial devolution is in place.
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