Great Western Coffee Shop

Scrapping the rail franchise system - the contracting out of services introduced when the rail system was privatised in the 1990s 

Scrapping the rail franchise system - the contracting out of services introduced when the rail system was privatised in the 1990s   

Should that government fall, and/or a General Election is called, no further action will be taken until a new government is formed, and they will write their owb Queens Speech for the new session.

Of course, any party that committed itself to "sorting out the railways" would get a few brownie points from some members of the population. Some, more cynical than me, might consider this to be a cynical example of electioneering.

The speech is understood to include a commitment to publish a white paper that will use recommendations from an ongoing rail review by former British Airways chief executive Keith Williams.

Concrete proposals for a new model will not be revealed until this report is released, however one option reportedly being discussed is the concession model.

The concession model sees private companies being contracted to run the train lines, but with local authorities setting fares and timetables.

Bruce Williamson from advocacy group Railfuture said the group welcomed the news.

“We have for some time been an advocate for a change to the franchise system, because it’s been clear for a long time that it’s not working,” he said.

“We’ve been an advocate for a concession model for some time, but we’ll just have to wait and see what Boris Johnson comes out with.

"From what we've seen trailed by the Government on rail franchising this is nothing new and the old Tory principle that profits and privatisation come first remains locked in. Nobody will be fooled by this "same meat, different gravy" spin that's coming out of Downing Street.
 
"Private operation of our railways in incompatible with reliable and high quality services, lower fares and investment in infra-structure as the train companies will always suck the life blood out of the system in profits and dividends. That is a cold hard fact.
 
"Trying to repackage the racket of franchising for political purposes will fail. Ruling out the public sector option exposes the whole policy for the sham that it is. We need a nationalised railway where quality, investment, planning and safety come first."

“anything that falls short of full public ownership of our railways amounts to tinkering at the edges. The British travelling public have had enough of franchising – full stop.

“Frankly, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that the system by which our railways are run is broken well beyond repair. I would urge Johnson to fully engage with the problem.

“Reform of the franchising model is not what’s needed – we need plans for the future of our industry which puts passengers before profit.

“As I have told Keith Williams – who's carrying out a rail review for the Government – only public ownership of our railways will ensure the public interest is served rather continuing with a system designed for the benefit of greedy shareholders.

“Surely even out of touch posh Tories know nothing else will do!”

Boris Johnson to scrap rail franchise system in favour of reformed model

The UK’s rail franchising model is to be overhauled and proposals for railway reform brought forward, the Government has announced in today’s Queens Speech.

At the State Opening of Parliament, the Government revealed that it wants to scrap the rail franchising system, set up in the 1990s, as early as next year and replace it with a model focused on “performance and reliability.”

The railway industry is currently awaiting the results of the Williams Review, the government’s root and branch review of the current model, and further details will likely be released when the review is published.

Rail reform was just one of the 22 bills announced in this year’s Queens speech which included social care reform, climate change measures and changes to the UK justice system.

Speaking in the House of Lords, the Queen said the Government will “ensure that the benefits of a prospering economy reach every corner of the United Kingdom.”

On top of a broad national infrastructure strategy and new legislation on broadband connectivity, “proposals on railway reform are to be brought forward” to replace the current model which has private operators handed localised monopolies over rail networks.

The major shake-up will aim to improve reliability and reduce fragmentation in a railway system based on the same model used when the railways were privatised, as well having localalised decision-making about the day-to-day running of the network.

I am having problems squaring an apparent circle.

The proposals appear to 'reduce fragmentation' as well as having 'localised decision making on the day to day running'.

Proposals on railway reform will be brought forward.

From Mick Cash at the RMT (https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-on-trailed-govt-queens-speech-announcement/)


and from Manuel Cortes at the TSSA (https://www.tssa.org.uk/en/whats-new/news/index.cfm/public-ownership-only-way-to-replace-rail-franchising-cortes)

Queen's Speech: Robert Buckland on justice system changes and railway reform

[snip]

"The railway changes are based on recommendations made at the end of a root and branch review of the current system. I hope it leads to improvements in quality and value for money in railway services to and from Swindon.

"We do not have a majority so MPs can support this bold agenda or reject it and block Brexit. That would not be in the national interest. I want to see progress made on all these reforms ASAP."

Rail Delivery Group chief executive Paul Plummer said: “The industry welcomes the government’s firm commitment to take forward the recommendations of the Williams Review, particularly its focus on fares and contract reform.

“Both are key to a new partnership between the public and private sectors in rail that delivers more for passengers and the country.

“We agree that decisions about trains should be brought closer to home and are pleased government plans to reform the regulations that underpin fares to enable greater local control.”

Don't think it's been said, but the Queen's Speech includes powers to build HS2 phase 2a (Birmingham to Crewe), though not, as yet phase 2b (Birmingham to Leeds) or NPR