Great British Railways

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Not to be confused with British Rail, Great British Railway Journeys, or GB Railways.

Great British Railways
IndustryRail infrastructure and asset management
Predecessor
Area served
ProductsPublic transport
Owner
Websitegbrtt.co.uk Edit this at Wikidata

Great British Railways (GBR) is a planned state-owned public body that will oversee rail transport in Great Britain from 2023. The organisation will replace Network Rail as the operator of rail infrastructure,[1] and will also control the contracting of train operations,[2][3] the setting of fares and timetables, and the collection of fare revenue in most of England.[1] The concession contract system will replace the previous system of passenger rail franchising in Great Britain run by the Department for Transport, which collapsed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4]

GBR will be modelled on the operations of Transport for London, which contracts services on systems such as London Overground.[2][3] Andrew Haines and Sir Peter Hendy, the current CEO and chair of Network Rail respectively, will oversee the creation of Great British Railways, with Hendy expected to run the new organisation.[2][3]

History[]

Britain's railway system was built by private companies, but it was nationalised by the Transport Act 1947 and run by British Rail (known as British Railways until 1965) until re-privatisation which was begun in 1994 and completed in 1997. Infrastructure, passenger, and freight services were separated at that time. The infrastructure was privately owned and operated by Railtrack from 1994 to 2002, when it was renationalised and transferred to Network Rail.[5]

During 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, all train operating companies (TOCs) entered into Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements with the UK and Scottish Governments.[6] Normal passenger service franchise mechanisms were amended, transferring almost all revenue and cost risk to the government, effectively 'renationalising' those services temporarily.[7]

The new Great British Railways organisation was proposed under the Williams-Shapps Rail Review,[8] which was carried out by Keith Williams and published as a white paper on 20 May 2021.[1]

Two weeks before the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail was unveiled, the Department for Transport gave notice of a £6.5 million contract for Deloitte up to February 2023 as its "strategic change delivery partner: rail reform programme".[9]

Regions[]

GBR will be made up of five regional divisions, organised in line with Network Rail's Putting Passengers First programme. Budgets and delivery will be held at the local level as well as at the national level. Regional divisions will manage concession contracts, stations, infrastructure, manage local and regional budgets, integrate track and train, and integrate rail with local transport services.[8]

The five regions are:[10]

  • Scotland
  • North West & Central
  • Eastern (including the East Coast Main Line)
  • Wales & Western
  • Southern (including HS1)

The reorganisation does not affect Northern Ireland, where the railway is already operated by the vertically integrated and already wholly state-owned Northern Ireland Railways. It does affect other devolved rail operators, including ScotRail, Transport for Wales, London Overground, TfL Rail (Crossrail) and Merseyrail, as well as the combined authorities that oversee other local railway networks in England. The devolved administrations, combined authorities, and the Greater London Authority will continue to exercise their current powers, such as setting fares and awarding contracts, and will remain democratically accountable for this. However, these bodies will be required to coordinate with GBR to deliver a single national rail network, including one website and app, as well as following national branding and passenger standards.[11] GBR will own all infrastructure in Scotland and Wales that Network Rail owns now.[8]

Stations[]

Under Network Rail, all stations are formally in public hands since 2014, but only 20 (mainly large termini and central stations) are managed directly by it. GBR will own all stations and most infrastructure in Great Britain. Existing leases of stations to devolved transport authorities will continue. Dedicated station management teams will be created within regional divisions of GBR to manage stations and land. GBR will develop masterplans for station renewal.[8]

Branding[]

The British Rail "Double Arrow" designed by Gerry Barney (1965)

GBR will use a slightly modified British Rail Double Arrow and the Rail Alphabet 2 typeface for branding. The Williams-Shapps plan states that there will be a single, unifying brand for railways, and it is expected that this will be a gradual rebranding over time. English regions, Scotland, and Wales will have their own variants, but these will still emphasise the national nature of GBR. The white paper does not specify whether the branding of devolved railways such as London Overground and Merseyrail will be affected.[8]

Headquarters[]

The location for GBR's headquarters is currently being determined. The government has promised to base the organisation outside London to promote economic growth and skills in a region beyond the capital.[12]

On 5 February 2022, the Department for Transport launched a public consultation for the location of GBR’s headquarters.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Rail services to come under unified state control". BBC News. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Pickard, Jim; Georgiardis, Philip (17 May 2021). "UK railways braced for biggest shake-up in decades". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Topham, Gwyn (16 May 2021). "UK railways brace for shake-up and cuts as long-overdue review arrives". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  4. ^ British government announces plans for major railway sector reform International Railway Journal 20 May 2021
  5. ^ "Network Rail closer to Railtrack takeover". BBC News. 18 September 2002.
  6. ^ "The ONS classifies train operating companies now running under emergency measures agreements". Office for National Statistics. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  7. ^ "UK rail effectively 'renationalised' during pandemic". TransportXtra. 3 August 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Great British Railways: Williams-Shapps plan for rail". GOV.UK. Department for Transport. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ Delivery Partner Contracts BidStats
  10. ^ "Our regions". Network Rail. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Wales will have to sign up to 'consistent branding' of new Great British Railways body, UK Government says". Nation Cymru. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  12. ^ Hakimian, Rob (5 October 2021). "Search on for Great British Railways headquarters". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Public competition launched to find new home for Britain's Railways". 5 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.

External links[]

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