Better rail services promised in huge shake-up

Rail passengers have been promised a better and more efficient service under the biggest shake-up in decades.

A new state-owned body, Great British Railways (GBR), will set timetables and prices, sell tickets in England and manage rail infrastructure.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it would replace an "overcomplicated and fragmented" system.

He told the BBC the changes did not mean fares would inevitably rise, but could not give guarantees.

Asked on Today if the changes meant rising ticket prices, Mr Shapps said: "No, is the answer". But he added: "I'm not here to give guarantees for years to come."

He pointed out that the taxpayer had plugged a £12bn hole during the coronavirus crisis to keep the railways operating and fares were subsidised, but said there was no "hidden agenda".

"Of course any government in the future will have to weigh those things up," he said.

Under the reforms:

The flexible season tickets will offer savings on certain routes for people who do not travel to work every day, reflecting the expected changes to commuting patterns after the pandemic.

They are due to go on sale on 21 June for use seven days later, and will allow passengers to travel on any eight days in a 28-day period.

Darshita Rajani, who lives in Wellingborough but works in London, welcomes the idea of a flexible season ticket.

Currently a season ticket for her journey costs just under £8,000. But she will only be doing three days a week when she goes back to the office so that would be prohibitively expensive.

"If things don't change I will still have to buy a season ticket, which is a waste of money, but a day ticket costs £116," she tells the BBC.

"It's insane how much they charge for a 50-minute train journey. I hope there will be two-days-a-week, three-days-a-week flexi tickets."

The reforms follow the chaotic introduction of new timetables in May 2018 and years of complaints about the "fragmented" franchising system, which has been scrapped.

GBR will replace the current track operator, Network Rail, but it probably will not be launched until 2023.

The government says the new system will look more like Transport for London, with multiple operators under one brand, offering greater accountability.

Keith Williams, the former boss of British Airways who led the review into the reforms, told the BBC's Today programme: "What we've done here is listen to what customers want out of rail and react to that.

"And that really is a more reliable punctual service and better opportunities [when] buying tickets.

"There is an enormous opportunity here not only to simplify the way that people buy tickets, but also to benefit from a retail environment which gives greater flexibility in the way that fares are operated in the future."

Mr Shapps, who also worked on the review, said the railways had suffered from "years of fragmentation, confusion and over-complication".

He added: "It's now time to kickstart reforms that give the railways solid and stable foundations for the future, unleashing the competitive, innovative and expert abilities of the private sector, and ensuring passengers come first."

Labour's shadow transport secretary, Jim McMahon, said: "With fare hikes, £1bn cuts to Network Rail and broken promises to communities across the country, it's yet another example of ministers talking a good game, with very little substance underneath."

Great British Railways will have its say over Network Rail (the owner of the track and major stations) and will award concessions to private companies to operate services.

If the plan is followed through and properly implemented, it should see an end to the squabbling over who is to blame when the trains are late, dirty or overcrowded. Everything will be the problem of a single body.

That concentration of power will also be a potential Achilles' heel. One of the successes of the privatisation was the freedom for train companies to do new things - a freedom that was a partial factor in the remarkable revival in passenger numbers in the past two decades.

If that spirit of innovation is lost - and if civil servants and politicians endlessly interfere in the working of the new authority - the railways risk sliding into stagnation. The fear among railway executives is that the Treasury, having had to pay dearly to support services during the pandemic, will seek to claw back spending, leading to cuts in services.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of passenger watchdog Transport Focus, said passengers would welcome a move "towards a more accountable and joined-up railway".

"Ultimately what they will care about is whether rail is the best option for them, if it is reliable, efficient and good value," he said.

But Manuel Cortes, general secretary of union the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, dismissed the plan as "papering over the cracks".

"A concessions-based model will still see passengers' and taxpayer money leak out of our industry in the form of dividend payments for the greedy shareholders of the private operators who will hold them," he said.

Meanwhile, the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said the proposals could deliver "the biggest changes in a generation".

Director general Andy Bagnall said: "Train operators called for a guiding mind and Great British Railways will help to bring the whole industry together.

"To deliver for passengers and freight customers, it must have the independence to hold the operators of both tracks and trains to account equally. Crucially, it needs to allow operators to put their customers at the absolute forefront of decision-making," he added.

The publication of the plan comes eight months after the government scrapped the system of rail franchising, which had been in force since privatisation, and unveiled plans to extend support for train firms.

After a drop in passenger numbers during the pandemic as more people worked from home, taxpayer money was used to plug the shortfall in ticket revenues.

Do you commute by rail? How do you expect these changes to affect you? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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