Network Rail and industry groups questioned on setting out plans for railway investment
The Transport Committee holds the first session of its Rail investment pipelines inquiry, with questions to Network Rail chiefs and representatives of the Rail Industry Association and Rail Forum.
Meeting details
MPs will investigate how developing long-term, transparent and sequenced plans – or pipelines – could bring certainty and security to the ecosystem of organisations and companies that commission and deliver improvements to the UK’s railways.
The inquiry was launched last year in light of repeated calls from industry for government support, and following concerns for the future of Alstom’s rolling stock factory in Derby, which shone a light on the insecure ‘boom and bust’ nature of the rail supply industry.
Network Rail, which runs the railway infrastructure throughout the country, will be questioned on how it plans its programmes – five-year Control Periods – of enhancements and improvements on the network, and where that funding is drawn from. How does this process take place and how does the organisation engage with industry?
The cross-party Committee will be interested to learn about the barriers that have stopped pipelines being adopted, whether greater certainty is needed over funding for longer periods, and whether the establishment of Greater British Railways as a centralised ‘guiding mind’ could make pipelines more achievable.
There may also be questions on how pipelines could feed into broader industrial strategies overseen by the Government, and how greater certainty on future business could encourage companies to invest more in the skills of their workforces through apprenticeships and graduate schemes.