You are here
Home > Uncategorized > Rail Reform Bill: where do we go now?

Rail Reform Bill: where do we go now?




Governments



usually
behave
as
if
they
will
be
in
power
indefinitely,
which
may
explain
why
a
‘draft’
Rail
Reform
Bill
has
been
published.



Bills
receive
three
‘Readings’
in
the
Commons:
the
first
is
a
formality,
and
the
second
is
the
opportunity
for
a
full
debate.
If
the
Bill
passes
this
time
it
goes
to
‘committee
stage’,
in
which
a
group
of
MPs
can
take
outside
evidence
and
propose
amendments.



At
the
end
there
is
a
third
reading,
after
more
debate,
and
then
the
Bill
goes
to
the
Lords,
where
the
process
is
repeated.



Finally,
if
all
is
well
the
Bill
receives
Royal
Assent
and
becomes
law.



In
other
words,
a
Bill
is
usually
taken
apart
under
a
strong
light,
although
if
time
runs
out
there
can
be
a
‘guillotine
motion’,
which
is
designed
to
save
time
and,
bluntly,
cut
the
cackle.



On
this
occasion,
however,
the
Government
thinks
that
the
Bill
needs
‘pre-legislative
scrutiny’,
which
accounts
for
its
draft
status.
After
due
consideration,
it
would
have
to
start
at
the
beginning,
with
a
First
Reading.



We
do
not
know
the
result
of
the
next
election.
At
the
moment,
it
is
being
reported
that
the
Conservatives
are
set
to
lose.
If
that
happens,
this
Bill
will
be
lost
with
them.



Labour
has
said
clearly
that
it
intends
to
put
the
passenger
railway
back
into
public
ownership,
and
the
simplest
(and
cheapest)
way
to
do
that
is
to
let
the
present
contracts
run
to
their
expiry
dates.



Does
this
draft
Bill
tell
us
much
about
the
Government’s
railway
reforms?



It
is
a
short
Bill,
just
32
pages.
It
confirms
that
there
would
be
a
Great
British
Railways,
which
would
take
over
the
awarding
and
management
of
passenger
contracts
from
the
transport
secretary.
It
calls
these
contracts
‘franchises’,
which
is
a
word
we
haven’t
seen
for
a
while,
but
says
nothing
about
the
form
these
franchises
will
take.



In
particular,
there
is
no
indication
of
the
degree
of
commercial
risk
operators
will
be
expected
to
tolerate.
We
remember
how
a
number
of
the
first-generation
franchises
fell
off
the
rails
because
their
losses
became
too
great,
ranging
from
Connex
South
Eastern
in
the
early
days,
through
GNER
(Mk2)
and
National
Express
East
Coast,
to
Virgin
Trains
East
Coast.



It
is
also
a
matter
of
record
that
the
market
was
becoming
cool
towards
rail
franchising,
and
this
was
demonstrated
by
an
increasing
shortage
of
bidders
after
2012,
when
the
Intercity
West
Coast
competition
had
to
be
cancelled
because
the
Department
for
Transport
had
got
its
sums
wrong.



More
recently,
the
DfT
fell
out,
apparently
irreversibly,
with
Stagecoach
and
Virgin
in
a
dispute
over
their
responsibility
for
railway
pensions.
These
days
Virgin
sells
tickets
for
other
peoples’
trains,
while
the
only
railed
vehicles
still
run
by
Stagecoach
are
Sheffield
trams.



Reassuring
the
market
is
going
to
be
quite
a
task,
once
the
present
system
of
collecting
the
operators’
revenue
and
paying
their
costs
comes
to
an
end.
If
it
does
not,
the
status
of
the
private
sector
will
be
reduced
more
or
less
to
consultants,
who

it
may
be
hoped

will
come
up
with
some
good
ideas
from
time
to
time.
On
the
other
hand,
if
they
do
not
benefit
from
introducing
innovations,
why
should
they
bother?



Even
so,
there
is
still
some
enthusiasm
in
the
the
private
sector.
One
insider
remarked
recently
that
his
managing
director
is
tired
of
the
DfT,
and
‘wants
his
train
set
back’.



We
do
know
that
this
Bill
keeps
Network
Rail
and
converts
it
into
GBR
by
giving
it
extra
responsibilities,
but
apart
from
that
most
of
the
details
have
yet
to
be
revealed.



It
is
now
up
to
the
electors.
They
will
decide
in
due
course
what
tomorrow’s
train
set
will
be
like. 

Leave a Reply

Top