Labour plans to abolish Network Rail

[mwmbwls]

IIUC - Passenger Rail Franchises will be nationalised upon the expiry of the franchise. Does anybody have a list of definitive expiry dates? Could this incentivise Franchisees to hand in their keys early? Does devolution present any issues?

 

[Class 466]

Makes sense to centralise naming and remove Network Rail - I really hope this is a chance to say goodbye to all these TOCs with names that became a bit of a mouthful in the late 2010s - looking at you London Northwestern Railway etc. I don't know what they'll settle on but its a mess at the moment lacking in any coherence.

 

[The Planner]

Makes sense to centralise naming and remove Network Rail - I really hope this is a chance to say goodbye to all these TOCs with names that became a bit of a mouthful in the late 2010s - looking at you London Northwestern Railway etc. I don't know what they'll settle on but its a mess at the moment lacking in any coherence.

The names are the last of any problems.

 

[swt_passenger]

IIUC - Passenger Rail Franchises will be nationalised upon the expiry of the franchise. Does anybody have a list of definitive expiry dates? Could this incentivise Franchisees to hand in their keys early?

Yes, there’s a list in this recent thread:

TOC contract expiry dates

Labour's plan is to take passenger operations into public ownership when contracts with the TOCs expire, when will this be? Wikipedia lists "Core Term Expiry Dates" and "End Dates" - I'm not sure of the difference between the two.

www.railforums.co.uk

Does devolution present any issues?

Devolved areas remain - it’s been pointed out in numerous threads ever since GBR was first mentioned.

 

[JamesT]

Only since the election was called I believe.
HS2 is simply too difficult until the costs are better understood.
The new HS2 CEO has to sort the existing project out first.

Articles from January such as https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67953508

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has allowed talks to go ahead between Labour and the civil service, ahead of the general election expected this year.

The talks are aimed at ensuring a smooth transition in the event that an opposition party wins power.

The meetings would enable Labour to establish relationships with civil servants and exchange information.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Louise Haigh has confirmed the roles of the DfT's ministers:

- Lord Hendy is Rail minister
- Lilian Greenwood is Future of Roads minister
- Simon Lightwood is Local Transport minister
- Mike Kane is Aviation, Maritime and Security minister

Transport Secretary sets out 5 key priorities to deliver the biggest overhaul to transport in a generation

It will take all our effort but the new motto of our department – our purpose – is simple: move fast and fix things.

www.gov.uk

New Transport Secretary Louise Haigh promised to deliver the biggest overhaul to transport in a generation.

The Secretary of State immediately convened officials to begin work at pace across the department on rail reform, further devolution of bus powers, ensuring infrastructure works for the whole country, and supporting local authorities to fix roads for the long term.

In her first address to Department for Transport (DfT) staff on Monday (8 July 2024), Haigh set out her 5 strategic priorities, putting transport at the heart of mission-driven government.

They include:

• improving performance on the railways and driving forward rail reform
• improving bus services and growing usage across the country
• transforming infrastructure to work for the whole country, promoting social mobility and tackling regional inequality
• delivering greener transport
• better integrating transport networks

 

[Goldfish62]

I'm sure that was the plan originally as well for GBR from the Conservatives.

It's been Conservative policy every since the publishing of the Williams-Shapps Plan years ago. It's nothing new at all. It's just that they've not bothered implementing it, preferring to be distracted by a perpetual war with the workforce instead.

Labour are taking the Wlliams-Shapps Plan, making it better and look to be be intent on actually implementing it.

 

[Matt P]

I personally think NR will simultaneously not be abolished and abolished at the same time. And impossible paradox? Not necessarily so.

What will almost definitely happen if/when GBR gets set up is that NR will be merged into it so loses a separate corporate identity. In that sense, it will be abolished. However GBR will still need an corporate division that manages and maintains its infrastructure. If we look to all of the European railways where the state operator also owns the infrastructure, this is exactly what happens there. Think SNCF Réseau or DB Netz. So I'd think it not in the realms of fantasy to assume NR will become GBR 'Networks' or similar, as a wholly owned infrastructure subsidiary company/division. It will employ most of the existing staff and management and for an initial period of time, it's own internal structures and division would remain. So in that sense NR would remain, albeit rebranded and subordinate to a new government owned company.

 

[winks]

I personally think NR will simultaneously not be abolished and abolished at the same time. And impossible paradox? Not necessarily so.

What will almost definitely happen if/when GBR gets set up is that NR will be merged into it so loses a separate corporate identity. In that sense, it will be abolished. However GBR will still need an corporate division that manages and maintains its infrastructure. If we look to all of the European railways where the state operator also owns the infrastructure, this is exactly what happens there. Think SNCF Réseau or DB Netz. So I'd think it not in the realms of fantasy to assume NR will become GBR 'Networks' or similar, as a wholly owned infrastructure subsidiary company/division. It will employ most of the existing staff and management and for an initial period of time, it's own internal structures and division would remain. So in that sense NR would remain, albeit rebranded and subordinate to a new government owned company.

It’s already laid out in the draft legislation what will happen to NR.

 

[snowball]

It’s already laid out in the draft legislation what will happen to NR.

That was the last government's draft. The new government's draft hasn't been published yet.

 

[WAO]

A proper railway has a departmental structure under the direction of a Board headed by a chairman/general manager (the "single mind" or "fat controller").

It is open to the Board directors to use the private sector to the degree of their choice in the running of their departments.

The Board is accountable to its owners, either Govt or shareholders.

Interestingly Indian Railways was set up under such a Board in 1905 by the wrongly maligned British Raj, 58 years before BRB was founded!

WAO

 

[vinoboxer]

All I care about in this regard is...

Is my job safe as a mechanical signaller. Specifically, in Scotland.

 

[LowLevel]

All I care about in this regard is...

Is my job safe as a mechanical signaller. Specifically, in Scotland.

To some degree? To be fair it is one of those jobs that you should enter into with an expectation of it moving or changing at some point given we've had mass power signalling for nearly 100 years and mechanical boxes shut routinely, albeit in a trickle rather than a flow.

 

[mcmad]

All I care about in this regard is...

Is my job safe as a mechanical signaller. Specifically, in Scotland.

I believe there is a current, long term plan showing how Scotland will eventually be signalled from a handful (9 or 10) locations with only Stirling (albeit all colour light/points motors now), Fort William and Fouldubbs remaining as mechanical boxes

Discussed here :- https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/decarbonising-scotland’s-railways.232516/post-6698188

 

[Mag_seven]

Let's just wait and see what the new government actually does with Network Rail.