Ministers set to reveal radical rail shake-up
Ministers are set to reveal the biggest overhaul of the UK’s rail system in three decades, with reforms including the introduction of flexible season tickets and pay-as-you-go travel across the network.
The coming week will see the publication of a long-awaited white paper on the future of the country’s rail network, the Times reported.
Chief among the reforms, the day-to-day running of the rail system will be brought under the control of a new body, independent of the Department for Transport (DfT).
The body will incorporate existing organisation Network Rail, with its current chair Sir Peter Hendy and chief executive Andrew Haines reportedly to be charged with setting it up.
It will be given greater sway over the existing rail franchises, with the power to change timetables and even out services.
In addition, it will be responsible to agreeing new “concession”-style deals with train operating companies, which have been propped up through billions government support for the last year.
Such a model, as is already used on the London Overground, will allow the body to give firms financial incentives to run services on time, while also being able to punish them for dirty trains and overcrowding.
The changes will mark the most fundamental reform to the running of the UK’s trains since the network was privatised in the 90s.
It comes after a year in which passenger numbers have dwindled to historically low levels due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A number of the reforms are designed to get passengers back onto trains after the pandemic. The Times said that rail firms would be forced to introduce two to three day season tickets for those workers who will not travel to the office everyday.
Ministers will also pledge to introducing contactless pay-as-you-go train travel in all towns and cities.
The Department for Transport (DfT) declined to comment.