Planning and service delivery for GBR

[Masbroughlad]

Will there be a central planning team at GBR?

If so, I hope it starts with a semi blank canvass. What does the country need - not constrained by TOC/current operator boundaries?

Any chance of the return of inter-regional trains that used to run? I think it will be similar to now, just painted red, white and blue.

I am still not sure how it will work? GBR trains - or contracted services under a GBR banner (ie no real change).

Opportunity missed?

 

[SynthD]

It won’t be a blank canvas because of the practicalities. Drivers have knowledge on certain routes and stock, the number of employees matches the trains to drive, clean and maintain, stations to stop or not stop, to open and clean. The opportunity missed was a wave of a wand.

Many, perhaps all, of the interregional trains that did not exist immediately before covid, can not come back. They relied on the lower usage and higher tolerance for delays in the past.

 

[JonathanH]

Any chance of the return of inter-regional trains that used to run?

They still run, just amended to run at even intervals on specified routes, with other services at fixed intervals connecting into them.

If so, I hope it starts with a semi blank canvass.

Liverpool to Norwich still runs in essentially the same core path it ran in when it was introduced in British Rail days. A wholesale blank canvas reset isn't easy for long distance services.

What does the country need

A service passengers can rely on - expressed by the Transport Secretary as "a unified, simplified, and publicly owned railway system that puts the interests of passengers, taxpayers, and freight operators first, ending the current fragmentation and blame culture." Reliability stems from keeping things simple.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

A service passengers can rely on - expressed by the Transport Secretary as "a unified, simplified, and publicly owned railway system that puts the interests of passengers, taxpayers, and freight operators first, ending the current fragmentation and blame culture." Reliability stems from keeping things simple.

GBR will probably generate major changes in railway organisation and delivery, but I'm not sure much will change at the customer end.
There will be a considerable focus on cost reduction, and it's not all coming from private TOC "profits".
It's all going to take time, maybe 5 years or more (ie after the start of what would be NR's CP8 in 2029) for any real impact.
Will they be brave enough for a radical revision of fares?
I'm not sure there are many untapped new routes out there, most of the network is fully optimised to current TOC flows,
Most rolling stock is tied to current TOC routes, because of long-term maintenance contracts or technical restrictions.
Rolling stock replacement will be a glacially slow process until GBR is up and running with a funding profile.
And Labour might not be in power for ever...

 

[JonathanH]

Will they be brave enough for a radical revision of fares?

Already happening with the LNER changes for long distance travel, and the expansion of contactless and single leg pricing for local travel.

I'm not sure there are many untapped new routes out there, most of the network is fully optimised to current TOC flows,

Even where it isn't, we hear stories on this forum of staff at one depot not wanting to give up work to staff at another depot.