Great Western Coffee Shop

From Christian Wolmar (https://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/2021/10/rail-942-a-big-test-for-the-levelling-up-agenda/) on the new scene under GBR:

My bold - really? Short-term franchises will I understand become short-term concessions, but reading the latest 'Modern Railways' there is a suggestion that the TOC will still be responsible for train procurement. I doubt I'll be surprised if the new Passenger Service Contracts turn out to be very similar to the pre-COVID Franchise Contracts in terms of who does what, save for the fact that GBR will take the revenue risk (and perhaps specify livery).

My understanding is that the stations will all be run by GBR…who will also sell the tickets & set the fares. It’ll be very different

The peice in Modern Railways casts doubt on that too (note that W-SP refers to the Williams-Shap Plan):

It then refers to the next item, which includes the following (PSCs are Passenger Service Contracts):
Bold added by me. Towards the end of that item, the author writes "I wonder what other heavyweight duties it " (a PSC) "will acquire as reality sets in?"

The initial DfT press release concerning the creation of GBR indicated that the ROSCO's would be retained. I have not seen any more recent announcements that this intention had changed.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/994603/gbr-williams-shapps-plan-for-rail.pdf (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/994603/gbr-williams-shapps-plan-for-rail.pdf)     Page 50

I thought at the time 'they cannot be serious!'

From the viewpoint of the DfT and the Treasury the ROSCOs have the advantage that they incur the capital cost of trains and GBR (DfF, or whoever) then have the operational cost of meeting the lease payments.  Without the ROSCOs the capital cost of the trains would fall on the Treasury.

It is an absolute certainty that the UK railways will be a blend of State and private sector, GBR is not intended to be and never will be a BR.  With stations if it makes sense for a concession / franchise / train service operator to manage and staff stations on a route and then that will happen, an example is TfL Rail.

Network Rail as the infrastructure operator and maintainer is almost certainly going to change under GBR once NR has been dissolved and it has been transferred into GBR

There is a NR / RDG team currently working on the whole operating model of the UK railways under GBR,

Indeed - It is actually intended to be a new SRA, and will be as powerless in the face of, and as criminally underfunded by, the Treasury as that godforsaken organisation was.

Consequently it will be every bit as much of a failure.

A UK Government reorganisation of the UK railways being a failure .............. surely not  ;D ;D ;D

but over the lifespan of the equipment would, I think, be a significantly lower cost to the taxpayer.