Westminster Hall - Future Of Rail

[Basil Jet]

BBC Parliament Channel, 2nd May 13:40 - 15:10
BBC Parliament Channel, 3rd May 02:15 - 03:45
(i imagine the second is a repeat of the first)

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Note this event actually took place on Tuesday (26th April). Should be interesting nevertheless.

 

[WatcherZero]

Tories are likely to introduce their rail nationalization bill in the next parliament session.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Tories are likely to introduce their rail nationalization bill in the next parliament session.

It seems likely it will be part of a wider Transport Bill with aviation and maritime elements as well.

As for nationalization, that's not what comes though in these speeches (also on April 26) from those in the engine room:

Strikes will not undermine industry reform programme, says Hendy

UK: The industry will not back away from its modernisation and cost reduction drive despite the threat of strike action this summer, Network Rail Chair Sir Peter Hendy told the Railway Industry Association Innovation Conference in Nottingham on April 27. More than 40 000 RMT members at Network...

www.railwaygazette.com

https://www.railwaygazette.com/uk/w...or-under-great-british-railways/61467.article

(extract)
GBR is being established ‘as a single guiding mind’ to oversee train operations and Network Rail, and will also take on functions related to innovation currently overseen by RSSB. Williams told the RIA conference in Nottingham on April 26 that he expects primary legislation to create GBR to be placed before parliament ‘in 2024’, but that the current GBR Transition Team led by Andrew Haines is already able to make significant progress in shaping the future structure.

‘Since I started my review in 2018, I have dealt with two transport secretaries and two rail ministers, and they have all believed that the private sector is key to delivering the innovation the industry needs to improve the customer experience’, Williams said.
The key, he felt, would be for GBR to harness ‘the best’ from the existing supply chain and new entrants from other industries to ensure that passengers and freight customers see ‘a punctual and efficient railway’.
Train operators meanwhile have been ‘freed from the complexity of forecasting’ as franchises have been replaced by National Rail Contracts.

Williams reiterated that the pandemic has exacerbated trends that were apparent prior to the crisis, such as more flexible working patterns. But he acknowledged that Covid-19 had prompted ‘quite a lot of questions from the Treasury about rail funding and costs’. Therefore it was no surprise that efficiency savings and value for money for taxpayers would be major considerations under the transition to GBR.

Making innovation easier could help mitigate some of the challenges, he explained, and GBR was already working on several initiatives to deliver this objective.
Under GBR, data ‘would be open by default’, with the planned Rail Data Marketplace to launch later this year. He also indicated that while GBR would establish a digital national rail ticketing channel, this would be developed ‘in partnership with’ private sector specialists in the field.

Among other things, the primary GBR legislation is not expected to be in place until 2024, though that will not impede some changes before then.

 

[Class 170101]

Can also be found here

Parliamentlive.tv

Westminster Hall

parliamentlive.tv

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Can also be found here

Parliamentlive.tv

Westminster Hall

parliamentlive.tv

The first 15 minutes (after the long break for voting) appeared to be a PR bid for York to host GBR, and that was followed by others in the same vein.
This is pretty tedious local lobbying - there are 42 cities with a bid, and parliament doesn't do the choosing.
Cheshire MPs were grumbling about Avanti not restoring the hourly London-Chester service.
Wrapping up, the minister (Wendy Morton)'s contribution told us nothing we didn't know, but she did agree to meet MPs on the Chester issue.
All in all, it was not any kind of "future of rail" debate.

 

[2192]

The first 15 minutes (after the long break for voting) appeared to be a PR bid for York to host GBR, and that was followed by others in the same vein.
This is pretty tedious local lobbying - there are 42 cities with a bid, and parliament doesn't do the choosing.
Cheshire MPs were grumbling about Avanti not restoring the hourly London-Chester service.
Wrapping up, the minister (Wendy Morton)'s contribution told us nothing we didn't know, but she did agree to meet MPs on the Chester issue.
All in all, it was not any kind of "future of rail" debate.

I recorded it and "watched" it yesterday, falling asleep after half an hour. What was said about York could have said about most of the places wanting the HQ. Other speakers used it to grumble about constituency issues. Perhaps some got on to a best structure for GBR whilst I was asleep!