THE new Labour Government wasted no time in publishing proposals on July 18 for legislation to take back direct control of passenger services rather than use private company franchises or National Rail Contracts.
This is not a far reaching change to the industry, as it is confined to amending the 1993 Railways Act in respect of franchising, while leaving independent regulatory functions in place. This means there will still be private freight operations, passenger charters and approved open access services.
What it does do, however, is to prohibit franchise extensions and the granting of new franchises – although there is a caveat that franchise extensions will be allowed if it is not reasonably practical to transfer these to the public sector. The provisions also apply to Wales and Scotland, where…
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The Railway (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2024