GBR plan in doubt
There is a growing belief that the proposed Great British Railways could become too powerful a body, acting in a centralised ‘command and control’ role rather than supporting the industry as a guiding mind.
By ‘Industry Update’
SINCE the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail was published in 2021, there has been pushback from previous rail ministers combined with a stronger voice from Rail Partners, the new organisation that represents private companies operating National Rail Contracts (which replaced franchises during the pandemic).
The principal objection to the plan is the lack of an incentive for train operating companies to promote revenue enhancing ideas, as future contracts will simply reimburse the costs of running a specified timetable and the resources needed to do that.
This lack of revenue responsibility also means there is less incentive to enforce revenue protection. To combat fare evasion, late January saw penalty fares rise from £20 to £100, reduced to £50 if paid within 21 days, plus the price of a full single fare for the journey being undertaken. It is hard to imagine many will pay a sum of this size, especially for local journeys costing a few pounds, so it is likely the appeals process will be overwhelmed – particularly as the proposed closure of ticket offices will also reduce the ease of buying a valid ticket.
Cost control measures are also showing through train fleet reductions, which affects the potential for future revenue growth. There has been a long list of rolling stock cutbacks, including Great Western Railway’s allocation of 19 Class 769/9 ‘tri-mode’ units, converted from Class 319 EMUs. These are going off-lease in March and returned to Porterbrook Leasing, and follows an earlier announcement by GWR that it is to withdraw its ‘Castle’ HST sets this year.