The Department for Transport (DfT) set out its plan to transform the way the rail system works in May 2021, in response to significant disruption to passengers in May 2018 following a failed introduction of a new timetable. The creation of Great British Railways (GBR) was proposed, a new organisation with responsibility for the whole rail system, by early 2024. Legislation to enable the creation of GBR was not brought during 2022, and DfT revised its approach to delivering rail reform in 2023.
The National Audit Office (NAO) published its report looking at whether DfT had set up its rail transformation programme to deliver value for money in March 2024. This found that the rail sector’s performance, both for passengers and the taxpayer, is not good enough and has not been for some time. The report further found that government had spent £3.1billion on subsidies for passenger services in 2022-23, a level considered unsustainable by DfT.
The Committee’s overview of the English rail system report in 2021 found that the rail system has become increasingly costly for the taxpayer. In 2019-20, the net cost of the system to the taxpayer was £5.1billion. This represented a 99.7% increase in real terms from 2015-16 to 2019-20. The report called for radical, effective reform in the rail system, and for aspirations and intentions to be turned into concrete actions that deliver meaningful change.
Based on the NAO report, the Committee will hear from senior officials at DfT, Network Rail and from the GBR Transition Team, on subjects including:
- Progress against DfT’s plans for reform;
- Performance;
- Levels of spending on subsidisation of passenger rail services.
If you have evidence on these issues, please submit it here by 23:59 on 12 April 2024.
Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere.
This inquiry was closed due to the 2024 General Election.