Title: Getting back on track : reforming the ownership and regulation of Britain's railways
Abstract: This report advocates step by step reform of the ownership, structure and regulation of Britain's railways, in particular establishing a new not-for-profit company to own, operate, maintain and renew the rail network. Changes suggested include: restructuring network maintenance and renewal work into fewer, longer-term contracts based on geographical zones with train operators represented on zone management boards; merging the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) with the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) to create a strategic rail regulator, possibly also encompassing safety regulation; creating an independent railway ombudsman to arbitrate disputes between the trail operating companies and the strategic rail regulator; replacing short-term passenger franchises with fewer, longer-term franchises, to secure more investment and higher standards of service, linked to greater regional accountability; and setting up public private partnerships to finance and deliver major projects reviewing the ten-year spending plan for railways to ensure sufficient investment to achieve targets of a 50 per cent increase in passenger use and 80 per cent increase in freight carried by 2010.
Publication Year: 2001
Publication Date: 2001-01-01
Language: en
Type: book
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Cited By Count: 7
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