Transport secretary Chris Grayling has announced plans to reunite track and train companies in a bid to improve rail maintenance and reduce delays.
As part of the plans, clients for construction firms in the rail sector could change, with rail franchises set to be run by joint management teams comprising representatives of the train operating company and Network Rail.
In a broad-ranging speech to a think tank in London, Grayling also said that he would look for “innovative ways of funding infrastructure development”.
“Often the opening of a new road or a new railway line or station can transform the value of development land. It is right and proper that the government gets back some of the value it has created to invest in infrastructure. We have seen this happen for Crossrail through the mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy.
“Network Rail also has significant assets that could be used to help meet the costs of improvements to the network. Stations are at the heart of many of our communities but all too often are not reaching their potential.
“We’ve seen some examples of where stations have been turned into thriving new commercial and residential developments that deliver benefits for both passengers and taxpayers. I want to see more of this happening. I want to see Network Rail play a part in releasing land to meet our housing challenge.”
Grayling described the change as bringing back together the operation of train and track as an “evolution and not revolution”. But he added: “I believe it will mean a better railway on a day-to-day basis, and it will mean that it is much easier to meet the challenges today’s network faces.
“Whether it’s planning essential repairs, putting in place improvements that can squeeze an extra service in on a crowded route, or responding quickly to a problem on the network, our railway is much better run by one team of people working together. They don’t have to work for the same company. They do have to work in the same team.”
He believes the plan will incentivise the private operators, which rely on the tracks being in operation, to complete the repairs more quickly than Network Rail, thereby decreasing disruption.
The first of the new franchises will be let in 2018 on the Southeastern and East Midlands lines, which will be expected to include integrated operating teams between train services and infrastructure.
Grayling said: “In order for all those involved to be incentivised to deliver the best possible service for the passenger, I expect the new franchises – starting with Southeastern and East Midlands – to have integrated operating teams between train services and infrastructure.
He also wants a new east-west rail line between Oxford and Cambridge to be completely outside the control of Network Rail. A new body called East West Rail will deliver the design, construction and operation of the link between the two university cities.
The £530m east-west rail link between Oxford and Cambridge will use part of the former “Varsity Line” that ran between the two cities until the 1960s.
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Possibly the only thing more disastrous for the taxpayer’s pocket than the current split of track and operators, is the idea that, whatever the system, we will have more rail journeys to subsidise. A return to the integrated rail of the era 1830-1993 will simply make clear that this arrangement, as a business model, known and proved a a failure (1921-93), gives long-unexplored opportunities for the franchise owner to get his hand into our pockets. Right up to the shoulder. The economies of Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire are of course known to be ‘just about managing’, compared to, er, the rest of the UK outside the south east. Obviously the right target for our cash then.