All UK policy articles – Page 3
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Rail Business UKGovernment sets out plans to sort out ‘appalling mess’ at High Speed 2
UK: Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander has told the House of Commons that she plans to address a ‘litany of failure’ around the High Speed 2 programme.
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Rail Business UKViewpoint: Buy tilting trains and finish Delta Junction to salvage HS2, says Gibb
UK: Procurement of a fleet of tilting trains and a focus on Birmingham – Manchester services are key to making the most the descoped High Speed 2 scheme, former Virgin Trains executive Chris Gibb tells Rail Business UK.
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Rail Business UKRail industry responds to spending review
UK: The rail industry responds to the government’s 2025 Spending Review on June 11, setting departmental budgets for day‑to‑day spending until 2028‑29 and capital investment until 2029‑30.
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Rail Business UKBristol light rail ‘on the table’ as WECA gets £750m in transport funding
UK: The West of England Combined Authority is assessing tram and light rail options in Bristol and is seeking more frequent suburban rail services around the city after it received £752m of government transport funding.
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Rail Business UKGovernment confirms more than £15bn of city region local transport funding
UK: Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced five-year funding agreements totalling £15·6bn which will enable England’s mayoral combined authorities to progress local transport projects within city regions and surrounding towns.
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Rail Business UKRegulator says reform of rail fare enforcement is urgently needed
UK: The Office of Rail & Road has called for urgent reforms to make the handling of train ticketing irregularities more consistent, fairer and effective.
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NewsDon’t tinker with rail freight’s rights, says operator
UK: Private freight operator GB Railfreight has urged the government not to tinker with performance, capacity and charging regimes during the process of setting up Great British Railways.
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Rail Business UKUK should join the Single European Railway Area, says AllRail
EUROPE: Taking the UK into SERA would ‘embrace a forward-looking, practical partnership that delivers for citizens, businesses and the climate’.
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Rail Business UKFirst operator transfers to public sector under UK rail nationalisation programme
UK: South Western Railway becomes the first contracted passenger train operator to pass to the public sector under the government’s nationalisation programme in the early hours of May 26.
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Rail Business UKElectrification, local branding and through trains in ambitious Network North Wales vision
UK: The Welsh goverment has announced a multi-year vision to create a Network North Wales integrated public transport system with frequent rail services at its heart. This would include ‘metro style’ train services and a through service between Wrexham and Liverpool.
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Rail Business UKMayor makes another bid for station devolution
UK: Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has called for powers to take over and regenerate disused railway land and derelict station buildings.
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Rail Business UK‘The rail industry needs to sell travel and not just tickets’
UK: Rail reform offers an opportunity to boost industry revenues by leveraging private sector marketing expertise and innovation to fill empty train seats, Anthony Smith, CEO of the Independent Rail Retailers association, tells Rail Business UK.
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Rail Business UKBritain ‘could be a global rail leader again’ says Burnham as he urges backing for ‘Northern Arc’
UK: A rail-based ‘Northern Arc’ infrastructure and development programme could help Britain ‘move on from the embarrassment of High Speed 2’ and restore the country’s reputation as a world leader in railway construction, believes Greater Manchester elected mayor Andy Burnham.
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NewsUK to Switzerland high speed train working group to be established
EUROPE: A joint working group is to bring together the British and Swiss governments and rail industry experts to examine how to overcome the commercial and technical barriers to launching a direct high speed train service between the countries.
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Rail Business UKViewpoint: The future of HS2 could lie in its original vision
High Speed 2 should be rescoped to run from London Euston to Crewe, taking advantage of the lessons learned and supply chain foundations established during Phase 1, says Dyan Perry, Chair of the High Speed Rail Group.
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Rail Business UKRail ticket retailers call for a level playing field
UK: Robust regulatory safeguards are needed to ensure that the ticket retailing market remains open, fair and attractive to investors, the Independent Rail Retailers trade association says in its response to the government’s consultation on rail reform. IRR says competition has ‘transformed’ retailing, helping to ...
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Rail Business UKGovernment dampens rail investment hopes as suppliers turn to exports
UK: The Department for Transport has told the Transport Select Committee that service optimisation will be prioritised over infrastructure investment, but equivocation over future projects is already pushing rail suppliers to embrace export opportunities instead.
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Rail Business UKCIRO says the reformed railway must be insulated from short-term politics
UK: The Chartered Institution of Railway Operators has called for a clearer and more coherent approach to rail reform, with strong leadership, operational autonomy and long-term whole-system thinking insulated from short-term politics. CIRO’s formal response to the government’s A Railway Fit for Britain’s Future consultation draws ...
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Metro Report InternationalProcurement of £1·6bn Manchester Metrolink O&M contract begins after in-house operation rejected
UK: Transport for Greater Manchester has launched the process of appointing the next operating and maintenance contractor for the Metrolink light rail network, after the decision was made to opt for a revised franchising model rather than take operations in-house.
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In depthComment: The devil is in the detail of reform
In May the first passenger services are set to transfer from the private to the public sector as part of the UK government’s rail reform plans. But as our Head of News Andrew Grantham explains, operators that are not to be nationalised are worried that without a stronger regulatory structure than is proposed, the private players will not have the confidence needed to invest and grow.