Creating a simpler, better railway for everyone in Britain
One railway today
Find out how we are working to deliver the most ambitious changes to our railway in a generation, in partnership with the government and the whole rail sector.
What we are working on
Simpler, better industry processes
Regulatory and contractual rules are important and underpin a surprising number of the most basic railway functions. They control how the railway works together to carry passengers and goods safely and efficiently around the network.
We published recommendations on ways to improve and simplify industry processes and are now taking forward several key areas of work in order to achieve better outcomes for passenger and freight customers.
Rail freight growth target
Growing rail freight is hugely important to the wider reform of the railway. Using rail reduces carbon emissions by over 76% compared to using lorries, improves air quality and delivers economic benefits across the country.
Following the announcement of a rail freight growth target, we are now moving ahead with plans to build market demand for moving freight by rail and looking at how we can better support the supply chain.
Great British Railways HQ
Great British Railway’s headquarters will be in Derby.
The HQ will be the anchor of a new rail campus across the city, building on Derby's existing reputation of railway excellence – as it already hosts Europe’s largest rail cluster, providing thousands of skilled jobs in the area. Derby also benefits from well-established rail links to towns and cities across the country.
Fares, ticketing and retail
As industry-lead for fares reform, we are bringing together fragmented projects and decision making processes to speed up modernisation.
Clear pricing, digital ticketing, and a system that can adapt to changing customer needs will underpin a transformation of the customer experience.
Improving accessibility
We are listening to our customers with diverse accessibility needs and working alongside relevant charities to remove the barriers that make travelling by rail difficult today.
We're also supporting industry partners to make system-wide changes as soon as possible, so our customers have services that are easier to access and use.
Our priorities
Great British Railways (GBR) will make the railway simpler and better for everyone.
Ahead of GBR being stood-up, we are bringing a ‘one railway’ perspective to bear on the challenges facing rail today.
We are focussed on supporting organisations across track and train to work better together to start creating a railway that is:
- Easier and better to use
- Lower cost to taxpayers
- Better at supporting local and national ambitions
- A simpler sector to work in and do business with
How we are bringing these priorities to life
- Brought profit and loss together across track and train at a national level to inform smarter investment decisions for operators, government and Network Rail, which has so far identified over £100m in cost reductions.
- Generated 2 million+ extra journeys and over £100m in additional revenue through leadership of initiatives like the Great British Rail Sale and Book with Confidence.
- Started work on a next generation of rail partnerships with the Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities, to make rail decision-making more locally accountable.
- Began trials of flexible season tickets on Southeastern and started to expand single-leg pricing on London North Eastern Railway.
Job opportunities with Great British Railways Transition Team
Are you ready for a once in a lifetime opportunity to enhance your career?
The railway in Britain is changing and this is your chance to get involved in the biggest transformation of the railway in a generation.
Latest news
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