Report by rail expert and Centre for Policy Studies fellow Tony Lodge urges range of critical measures to deliver for customers and boost revenue

Lodge: ‘GBR should not be able to mark its own homework’

 
Great British Railways is a solution in search of a problem and risks “morphing into the ghost of British Rail”unless ministers develop a long-term vision for the railways, warns a new report.

Rail’s Last Chance: A four-point plan to save the railways by rail expert and Centre for Policy Studies fellow Tony Lodge outlines a range of critical measures that would deliver for customers and boost revenue when the government pushes ahead with their new state-owned railway company. Currently, rail receives a £12.5bn annual subsidy from the taxpayer, despite accounting for just 2% of all journeys taken by the public.

First, the report urges the government and GBR to protect and promote open access passenger services, which have delivered better services, more routes, faster trains, and cheaper tickets. It highlights the fact that open access competition on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) has not just seen new, popular rail operators enter the market, but pushed the dominant franchise operator, LNER, to deliver better for its customers. Lodge notes that European railways that are copying Britain’s existing open access model on the ECML have seen a 40% increase in passengers and fare reductions of 20-60%.

Lodge argues that while open access trains already represent 20% of services on the ECML, other long-distance routes should aim for a minimum of 10% open access by 2030, to replicate this success across the network.

Second, GBR should not be able to mark its own homework – for example, by deciding which operators get access to its tracks. Instead, the Office for Road and Rail should retain its independent regulatory powers both to scrutinise GBR and its operations.

Third, the report calls for GBR to adopt a ruthless focus on making train travel as easy, cheap and user-friendly as possible, not least when designing a new GBR ticketing app to replace those of the existing train operating companies. This would include not just addressing the complexity and cost of fares, but more imaginative ideas such as a ‘Rail Miles’ loyalty scheme, or combining rail tickets with other bookings such as hospitality and retail.

It is critical that GBR is designed and run with customer focus at its heart

Finally, the report highlights the enormous missed opportunities for the rail estate to generate wider ancillary income. Commercial and residential development, renewable energy generation, light parcel freight, health hubs at stations, alongside a higher quality retail offering are all underutilised sources of income for the railways.

The report argues that the rail sector’s 52,000 hectares could generate massive renewable energy and development income, learning from countries like Japan, where railways earn one-third of their revenue from non-ticket sources such as retail.

Ministers estimate that the Network Rail estate has the potential capacity to generate 188 MWp (Megawatts peak) of solar power across 34 sites. This could earn the railway tens of millions of pounds in new revenue. The report urges ministers to explore this, and to go further.

“It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Great British Railways is a solution looking for a problem – prioritising the nationalisation of the railways over their effective and efficient operation,” said Lodge.

“That said, Labour is committed to bringing it forward and has the parliamentary mandate to do so. It is critical then that GBR is designed and run with customer focus at its heart; encouraging innovation and competition, promoting open access, supporting rail freight, and maximising income from the wider railway estate. Without this, Great British Railways will merely resurrect the ghost of British Rail, with all the poor performance, taxpayer subsidy, and passenger dissatisfaction that came with it.”

 
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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