David Baisan’s Post

UK Labour Party rail plan reviewed Politics and the railways often share the same stage. They have never been closer than they are today. Britain is anticipating a general election, and railway reform is very much on the agenda. The industry is mired in controversy over government influence and a toxic series of industrial disputes. Every political party has ideas on… https://lnkd.in/egmkNqcn #railindustry #rail #railtech

In our latest insight article, Dr Stuart Thomson, Founder of CWE Communications dissects Labour's rail reform plans. "Labour's plans for changes to the railways received significant media attention. Whilst the number of bus journeys is huge, rail dominates attention. By developing a plan for rail, Labour has taken back control of the transport debate."   Read our latest insight article here https://bit.ly/3JG7l4g

https://lnkd.in/e8sihB-G Our rail network doesn't work in its current state. It is far too expensive compared with our European peers and the high fares discourage its use. If we want more people to use the rail network we need lower fares and to ensure that our fares are clear and transparent regardless of where you are travelling too. In addition, and as part of the green agenda, we need to get more people and indeed freight companies onto the rail network, and we need to electrify and modernise the entire network including the rolling stock. Investing in our national infrastructure is a sensible approach for any Labour government as it will help to grow the economy and assist with the levelling up agenda that the current government has failed to deliver. Paying dividends to private investors and diverting much needed funds from the network is perhaps not the right approach.

Like many UK residents, I have a new Labour Party (UK) MP in Amanda Hack - congratulations to her! With this being the first time that the The Labour Party has been in power for 14 years, they will now have to turn their election manifesto promises into practical and affordable reality. And that includes investment in the #railways. Some expenditure is already committed, some is not (such as the infamous Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) that Darren Caplan of the Railway Industry Association keeps mentioning). We need to see how the ambition for nationalisation meshes with the Rail Reform plans already in place, many of which, I feel, should be allowed to stand as they will still be needed. Any tweaks needed can be made quickly and the Bill passed in the first session so that the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) can get on with their job that has already been much delayed. New Transport Secretary Louise Haigh MP (seen below) is on record saying that Labour will not reinstate HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd. However, hopefully she has an open mind to look at the programme in detail now she has access to all the facts and to industry advice. Then she can decide how much of the problem was down to previous Government failings and what she needs to do about capacity between Birmingham and Manchester. No point in having connectivity across the North when you can't travel south to the capital! And what will happen about finance for Transport for London and in the other Labour-controlled metropolitan areas? Transport for Greater Manchester, Merseyrail, West Midlands Rail Executive etc It will be a whole new chapter. Let's hope Louise and her rail ministers are prepared to talk to people in the know and not just the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom - industry, unions and even journalists (ahem) - before coming up with a plan! Time will tell...

Good to see that there are several references to devolved powers, particularly mayoral combined authorities and integration with other local transport.

Roger Bootle in today's Telegraph makes the case for pay-per-mile road pricing. This is a great idea, so great in fact that it has often been proposed in the past. It has many advantages. To start with, it's fairer. Why should light road users pay the same as those who are up and down motorways every day? But more importantly, it would distribute road capacity more efficiently, leading to less congestion and faster road journeys, causing less pollution. It would also shift the costs of motoring from a fixed to a marginal basis so that the unfair comparison with rail on a journey-by-journey basis would change in rail's favour. I'd love to see the rail industry making the case for policies which affect it right across the economy and society, but in my lifetime it has been reticent to fight its corner in public (notwithstanding the great work of eg RIA and Rail Partners). I hope GBR will be sufficiently strong, confident and outward-looking to advocate bold policies like this. I fear it will be a quiescent Network Rail with a few lapsed TOCs bolted on.

Wow - big news from Labour who announced they would re-nationalise UK Railways within 5 years as current TOC contracts expire: https://lnkd.in/e5xtrBtu I can't say the performance of the last period of public ownership of the railways was something to return to, and we cannot ignore that the current issues with rail operations and salary protests are heavily influenced by the significant and increasing cuts to the rail subsidy, which is in sharp contrast to the continued healthy support that European railways get to ensure a sustainable travel choice is attractive to passengers. I'd say that it's not about the ownership model, it's the Chancellors repeated choices that private vehicle fuel duty has been frozen low for years, air passenger duty kept low while at the same time public transit support has been slashed.

Interesting article here by #railbusinessdaily on the transformation of Britain's railways from the Labour Party. It's an important debate and my view is that an integrated national rail network would be positive for the UK's growth and would be a step forward in terms of addressing regional inequalities. For it to succeed it will require a strategic roadmap including long-term goals uncovering all the complex interdependencies within the system, so that decision-makers can align their actions to the overarching goals of the network. https://lnkd.in/eezyjee2

The next government may nationalise rail services in the UK within 5 years as operation contracts with the government expire. It's easy to get into an ideology tug of war over "who should own the trains" and each side genuinely has it's merits. However, the rail network is so important to our economy and social mobility that we need to see how private enterprise can add value if the operations to get nationalised. Behind the headlines the Labour Party (government in waiting) still see a role for private enterprise. For this reason we need to see how the innovative, risk taking and lean approach of private enterprise can work with government to: 1. Lower prices for consumers. 2. Adapt innovation (products and processes) to make the industry leaner and more efficient. 3. Encourage more uptake of rail services 4. Think of other uses for trains and infrastructure during times of low demand and usage. #rail #passengers #grb #innovation