Future of Great British Railways
Secretary of State for Transport outlines next steps for rail reform in Britain during the Derby rail skills event.
Good morning everyone and let me start by thanking Derby City Council for organising this event.
It’s wonderful to be back in Derby – the future home of Great British Railways (GBR).
But in many ways, this has always been the industry’s home.
A city of train building – 180 years and counting – from the Derby Works to Alstom today.
A city of innovation – from the first steel rails to the iconic railway roundhouse.
And a city of heritage – from railway cottages to the Brunswick Inn pub, which I’m glad to see is still going strong.
But Derby has never rested on historic laurels.
Instead, it has renewed and reformed.
That roundhouse is now Derby College, producing the engineers of tomorrow.
The once rail technical centre is now part of Europe’s biggest rail cluster, with 11,000 jobs.
And the works at Litchurch Lane, that once produced Victorian train carriages, now making trains for London’s Elizabeth Line.
That’s why this event matters.
Because today isn’t just about this city’s proud rail history, but about reinforcing Derby’s central role in shaping rail’s future.
And about celebrating the brilliant businesses of all shapes and sizes that make up the rail industry.
State of rail
Derby’s zeal for renewal and reform is shared by this government.
Because after years of dysfunction and decline – how our economy is managed, how public services are run, how government works, all must return to the service of working people, wherever they live.
That is the work of national renewal the Prime Minister has promised.
And it starts with our railways.
On entering office, we were under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge.
A railway mired in industrial action – costing the economy the equivalent of nearly £3 million pounds a day.
And performance levels that were simply not good enough, with cancellations at a 10-year high.
All visible problems, but with deep roots.
Fragmentation, lack of accountability and conflicting interests.
The very industry weaknesses Keith Williams identified years ago, still remain.
The lack of political leadership on rail has left an industry more comfortable looking inwards, that fails to pull together when things go wrong, that has lost focus on improving each part of people’s experience with the railways – so passengers don’t get the journeys they deserve.
We’ve seen this with delays to long promised upgrades to the East Coast Mainline, or the confusing array of fares and tickets passengers have to navigate.
And the great irony of privatisation is that the part of the industry that works best, that innovates and pushes boundaries – the dynamic supply chain – has been stifled. But these issues are systemic – not individual.
Because when I speak to the supply chain and station staff, to engineers and signalers, they all want what’s best for the passenger.
All are committed, enthusiastic and ready to work across organisational boundaries to deliver a better railway.
But currently, they have neither the tools, incentives nor backing to do so.
It’s why, as Passenger in Chief, when I said I would oversee the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation, a big part of that will be a cultural reset.
Where every part of the workforce feels empowered to challenge the orthodoxy of years past, supported by an entirely new and reformed organisation – Great British Railways.
Where we value diverse skills, build new capabilities and forge high-quality careers that attract the next generation.
And where everyone understands how they contribute to a railway unashamedly focused on delivering for passengers and taxpayers.
It will not be British Rail Rebooted or Network Rail 2.0 – but we’ll usher in a new era for the railways where every part of the industry is motivated and incentivised to deliver for the passenger.
That’s my personal mission.
To join you in a determined effort to get our railways working again – for passengers, for its workforce and for communities across Britain.
Because our railways are essential to getting Britain growing and moving again.
Industrial action
Within months, we’ve begun the essential work of change.
We’ve ended the longest ever national strike on our railways.
Gone are the political gimmicks of years past, which not only prolonged industrial action but caused misery for passengers and cost the railways £850 million pounds.
Within days of taking office, I spoke to all rail unions and hit reset.
I was clear that if talks were needed, we would sit round in good faith.
If compromises could be made, we would all make them.
And if a deal could be struck, we would fight for a fair agreement for workers, passengers and taxpayers.
A new, grown-up, approach – which put passengers first and politics second. And clears the way for vital workforce reform, to modernise our railways and do away with outdated working practices.
Public Ownership Bill
I’ve also fired the starting gun on rail reform.
The Public Ownership Bill has passed the Commons and now awaits committee stage scrutiny in the Lords.
It calls time on a broken model, one that repeatedly failed passengers and one that cost tens of millions of pounds in fees each year.
It allows us to bring passenger services into public hands as contracts expire over the next 3 years.
But I know passengers won’t wait that long for things to improve.
They rightly deserve better than the status quo.
So we will continue building capacity and expertise in the public sector, as it takes on additional services.
And in the meantime, I won’t hesitate to take decisive action if operators don’t meet their obligations.
It’s a message I’ve already delivered loud and clear to the Managing Directors of Avanti West Coast and Cross Country. And indeed, we have set new and clear expectations to those train operating companies already in public ownership.
Reform
Now, public ownership and resolving national strikes are just stops on the journey to reform, not the terminus.
The Railways Bill, which we will introduce later this parliamentary session, will get the industry back on track.
We’ll establish Great British Railways – a directing mind running the railways as one system, with a relentless focus on passengers.
We’ll stop the blame game, by unifying track and train.
We’ll grip the finances, led by passenger need and taxpayer value.
And we’ll grow freight, unlocking new green growth.
Delivering GBR in full will be the work of years, not months. It is the biggest reform agenda of this government.
But again, we cannot afford to wait.
Shadow GBR
So I’ve taken decisive action to bring the industry together under Shadow Great British Railways and its new Chair Laura Shoaf.
Laura brings a wealth of experience.
And I’ve asked her specifically to lay the foundations of culture change the industry needs.
That, of course, means getting the basics right with performance, but it also means encouraging innovation at every opportunity.
So, under her leadership, the heads of Network Rail, DOHL, and DfT’s rail services group – the people in charge of track and train – will work closer than ever before to set the tone of reform and deliver immediate improvements.
On performance: nowhere near good enough across the board, but not helped by the labyrinth of different contracts, measures and incentives at play.
Different targets lead to competing priorities.
And operational decisions that make sense in one part of the industry, can lead to worse outcomes overall – with passengers inevitably bearing the brunt.
So, I will soon set out new performance measures, ensuring a more consistent and transparent approach.
We’ll end the boom-and-bust approach to investment projects.
Replacing it with a long term strategy for rolling stock – essential for the industry here in Derby.
After years of government uncertainty and mixed messages, this will give the supply chain the certainty it needs to plan and invest.
And finally, we’re reviewing fares and ticketing. Not just to unblock barriers to reform, but to urgently get passengers back on board with new exciting campaigns.
That starts early next year, with a new ‘rail sale’ to coincide with the 200-year anniversary of the first passenger service.
It will offer up to half price Advance and Off-peak fares – to get Britain moving, to connect our communities and to give back to passengers, who for too long have paid more and more for less and less.
These first steps are important, as we start restoring some national pride to this industry and building the railway of tomorrow.
Conclusion
I began by talking about Derby, and it’s also a good place to end.
We are standing in the biggest concentration of rail innovation and expertise in Europe.
Around 600 rail companies, employing 45,000 people, have chosen to co-locate in the East Midlands.
And it’s easy to see why.
We have Derby University’s Rail Research Innovation Centre, Network Rail’s testing facility at Tuxford, Alstom’s world leading manufacturing facility and maintenance hubs for Sperry Rail and Railcare.
All will soon be joined by GBR, providing the leadership this industry has sorely needed.
Working in partnership – government and industry – to build a renewed and reformed railway, fit for the future, fit for Britain.
A new era for our railways and a new era for Derby.