Former
transport
secretaries


Mark
Harper
and
Grant
Shapps
are
among
the
Tory
casualties
in
the
General
Election.

Rail
minister
Huw
Merriman
had
already
announced
his
resignation
and
did
not
stand
in
the
election.

Labour
has
won
at
least
412
seats,
a
gain
of
211,
with
two
seats
yet
to
be
declared.
The
Conservatives
will
have
at
least
121
seats,
which
would
be
a
loss
of
250.

Other
Conservative
ministers
who
have
also
lost
their
seats
include
former
Prime
Minister
Liz
Truss,
Commons
leader
Penny
Mordaunts,
justice
secretary
Alex
Chalk
and
education
secretary
Gillian
Keegan. 

When
he
was
transport
secretary,
Grant
Shapps
added
his
name
to
Keith
Williams’
Rail
Review
in
2021.
Before
that
he
had
officially
abolished
passenger
franchises
in
September
2020
in
the
wake
of
the
Covid
pandemic,
replacing
them
with
emergency
contracts
and
then
National
Rail
Contracts.

The
new
government
is
set
to
create
Great
British
Railways,
which
according
to
a
document
published
in
April
will
be
a
‘directing
mind’
rather
than
the
‘guiding
mind’
envisaged
in
the
Williams-Shapps
Rail
Review. 

Network
Rail
will
become
Great
British
Railways
and
take
over
the
operation
of
the
remaining
former
franchises
as
they
expire,
reach
a
break
point
or
are
terminated
for
poor
performance.
GBR
will
also
be
the
general
controller
of
the
railways,
with
only
broad
decisions
about
policy
and
finance
remaining
with
the
government.

The
King’s
Speech
on
17
July
is
expected
to
include
legislation
to
nationalise
the
remaining
former
franchises
and
create
Great
British
Railways,
but
the
former
passenger
franchises
in
Scotland
and
Wales
have
already
been
nationalised,
along
with
four
in
England.
However,
Labour
has
also
said
that
open
access
operators
will
continue.

The
new
shape
of
the
railways
has
not
won
universal
support
in
every
part
of
the
industry.

The
private
sector
trade
body
Rail
Partners
has
called
for
the
gains
achieved
by
privatisation
to
be
preserved.

Earlier
this
week,
speaking
on
the

Railnews
podcast,
Rail
Partners
chief
executive
Andy
Bagnall
said:
‘The
franchising
system
had
been
creaking
before
the
pandemic.
Accountabilities
had
become
blurred.
There
were
less
and
less
bidders
for
contracts.
The
benefits
had
started
to
be
outweighed
by
fragmentation.
So
I
think
everyone
agreed
the
railway
needed
reform.

‘The
Department
[for
Transport]
is
now
more
involved
with
the
railways
than
it
was
in
the
days
of
British
Rail.
It
is
unfair
to
put
some
of
the
challenges
the
industry
is
now
facing
exclusively
at
the
door
of
the
private
sector
train
companies.

‘As
they
[the
Labour
government]
try
and
reform
the
railway,
make
sure
that
we
preserve
some
of
the
strengths
of
the
previous
system,
that
we
follow
the
evidence
of
what
works,
and
that
way
we
are
most
likely
to
be
able
to
address
the
weaknesses
as
well.’

The
Campaign
for
Better
Transport,
meanwhile,
said
its
preferred
model
was
the
awarding
of
operating
concessions
to
private
companies.
This
already
happens
in
some
parts
of
the
country,
such
as
on
the
London
Overground
and
Docklands
Light
Railway.