Great Western Coffee Shop

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/rail-review

Keith Williams should have a fairly clear idea of what Grayling would like his report to say. I'm guessing he'll recommend splitting NR into four or five regions, covering (at a guess) the West, the South, the North-East, the Midlands and Scotland, possibly handing control of them to the operating companies. As a concept that has a familiar ring to it somehow; maybe other readers out there with a better knowledge than mine of railway history can tell me if that sort of thing has ever been tried before?

Is yet another review going to make any difference I ask myself? Until the Dft can learn to let go of running the railways then nothing will change.

In the days of sectorisation at the end of BR, the stations, track and signalling came under the remit of the main operator in that area; for example Intercity, Regional Railways, Trainload Freight, etc. Liskeard signal box has a Regional Railways sign still attached to it as a legacy from this time.

The separation of wheel and rail came at privatisation. The sectors were split down to their constituent Train Operating Units (TOU) such as Regional Railways South Wales & West and Intercity Great Western in preparation for transferring to the private sector as franchises. (These two examples became South Wales & West Railway and Great Western Trains as private sector operators.) The infrastructure side was taken away from the TOUs and amalgamated to form a private national infrastructure operator, Railtrack.

We can keep reviewing until the sea touches the sky and electrification extends to Looe ... progress depends on implementation of the outcome of the review ...

At times, reviews seem a cheap way of acknowledging something that needs dealing with, without the full expense of actually dealing with it.  A way of helping the resident and voter realise that the government in aware of their concerns and desires. But yet reviews are necessary in manageable quantities to help ensure that expenditure that is forthcoming is properly spent and in a co-ordinated manner rather that in a way that undoes other (government) spending.

If you'll forgive me, grahame, I've extended your short poem:

We can keep reviewing til sea touch sky
And the wires extend to Looe
Progress depends on the implementation
Of the outcome of the review
For who are we but passengers
On a ride of Grayling's bidding
If we hope things will get better soon
It's only ourselves we are kidding