Reports
say
transport
secretary
Mark
Harper
is
set
to
announce
that
plans
to
create
a
‘guiding
mind’
for
the
railway
industry
are
back
on
track, although
the
timetable
for
setting
up
Great
British
Railways
has
slipped.


There
had
been
fears
that
GBR,
which
had
been
recommended
by
former
British
Airways
chief
executive
Keith
Williams,
had
been
set
aside.
His
report
into
the
railway
industry’s
structure
was
commissioned
after
the
May
2018
timetable
changes
had
proved
chaotic.

When
he
had
investigated,
he
concluded
that
the
major
changes
planned
for
that
month
on
Northern
and
Thameslink
had
resulted
in
confusion
because
‘nobody
took
charge’.

His
report,
which
was
published
in
conjunction
with
transport
secretary
Grant
Shapps
in
2021,
had
explained:
‘Services
across
the
north
and
south
east
of
England
were
disrupted
for
many
weeks
after
the
late
delivery
of
infrastructure
improvements
by
Network
Rail,
miscalculations
by
both
it
and
operators
in
preparing
timetable
changes,
and
a
failure
of
accountability
and
oversight
throughout
the
process,
led
to
a
collapse
in
the
national
timetable.’

The
answer
was
seen
to
be
a
new
‘guiding
mind’,
but
progress
towards
creating
GBR,
which
will
need
new
legislation,
had
apparently
stalled
during
the
high-level
confusion
in
government
itself
last
year,
which
involved
the
departure
of
Boris
Johnson
as
prime
minister,
followed
by
the
brief
appointment
of
Liz
Truss
before
she
was
also
forced
to
resign,
in
favour
of
Rishi
Sunak.

Grant
Shapps
was
dislodged
as
transport
secretary
during
the
period
of
uncertainty
in
Downing
Street,
and
it
is
his
successor
Mark
Harper
who
is
expected
to
say
tomorrow
that
GBR
is
starting
to
move
forward
again.

A
competition
for
towns
that
wish
to
host
the
headquarters
of
GBR
had
also
been
delayed.

If
the
plans
have
remained
essentially
unchanged,
GBR
will
absorb
Network
Rail
and
take
responsibility
for
awarding
passenger
operating
contracts
in
England,
which
have
replaced
the
former
franchises.
The
part
played
by
the
Department
for
Transport
will
be
greatly
reduced.

Mark
Harper
is
also
expected
to
reveal
major
changes
to
ticketing,
which
are
thought
to
include
the
abolition
of
return
tickets
in
favour
of
‘single
leg’
alternatives,
following
trials
on
LNER.