The Williams-Shapps plan to reform Great Britain’s rail industry has been met with considerable excitement by stakeholders eager to build detail onto the principles and maximise rail infrastructure’s unique power as an economic, social and environmental enabler.
Great British Railways (GBR) will inherit not only the physical GB rail network but also all the power it needs to take a guiding role in innovation, development and service specification. This gives it opportunities to achieve government ambitions including on Net Zero, regeneration (including housing and levelling up), local community and devolved authority empowerment, and the delivery of higher skilled jobs and new (digital and engineering) technology. With such power comes a great responsibility to deliver. Effective delivery will need a number of characteristics including the following.
GBR must foster an energised rail industry.
The industry’s successes are built on dedicated parties at all levels in the system, and their creativity, professionalism and effective collaboration. GBR needs to be a guiding mind which fosters and energises these forces and not a controlling power which represses them. This calls for understanding and informed dialogue, trusted delegation and the right measures of risk transfer and incentivisation.
Confidence in decision making is key.
The plan for rail welcomes private sector investment, innovation and future delivery of passenger facing services as well as the core role of freight. GBR will interface with communities, devolved authorities, its (increasingly tech) supply chain, operators and other transport modes. GBR will also have significant internal conversations to handle within GBR and with its staff. All must have confidence in GBR’s decision making and the consistency and certainty of its position, so they can also collaborate, plan, invest and deliver.
Government and GBR must understand each other.
Government is appointing GBR to deliver on its policies. GBR will need to accept the high-level direction of these policies and the budgetary responsibility placed upon it, coupled with accountability for the statutory duties it will be required to discharge. It would be a severe inefficiency, though, should government feel driven to micro-management of GBR. The experience of the Strategic Rail Authority shows that very clear roles, trust and long term consistency will need to be fostered to make this work without a proliferation of review and administration.
GBR must develop how centralised “guiding” decisions will implement local/devolved priorities.
Current strong relationships (eg with operators) need to be built on and not dismantled, with relevant stakeholders being heard and responded to within the system. GBR will lose the benefits of its ‘guiding mind’ if important local and regional detail is not addressed.
The drive on cost must balance passenger experience and revenue generation.
Government and Network Rail have an established focus on costs which will transfer to GBR. But a key success of the privatised rail industry was revenue growth. Revenue generation must be valued and operator knowledge and expertise effectively harnessed to drive recovery.
GBR must capitalise on the benefits and overcome the challenge of scale.
With the potential benefits of scale comes the risk of inefficiency, inertia, entrenched ways, lack of innovation and distance from practical reality. GBR must guide efficiency and consistency and energise change, including through enabling innovation and imaginative procurement, while building a consistent railway system.
The benefits of a ‘guiding mind’ – greater focus on passengers and simplification – can be realised for the rail industry. Doing the right thing for the railway will deliver so much more of the UK’s wider objectives. The challenge is for GBR to walk the tightrope to become an industry energising, guiding mind and not a restrictive, controlling influence.
