Revenue growth is main goal in new Great British Railways plan
The Government has set out revised proposals for how a new Great British Railways organisation will oversee post-pandemic railway operations in England.
By ‘Industry Update’
ALTHOUGH the plan to create a new rail agency in England has been postponed, the intention remains to establish Great British Railways in a revised format to that originally proposed.
The new plans were revealed in the 2023 George Bradshaw lecture on February 7, by the Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper. He acknowledged there is a lot of frustration in the industry, with a determination now to end what is seen as the current period of drift, and deliver a seven-day-a-week system that is nimble enough to meet post-pandemic changes in demand.
He reflected that it is a testament to the industry’s huge economic potential that has led the Government to back the Integrated Rail Plan to improve Pennine routes, construct HS2 between Euston and Manchester (although notably no reference was made to the truncated eastern leg to reach East Midlands Parkway), and the East West Railway (Oxford to Milton Keynes/ Bedford).