Simpler, better industry processes

GBRTT commission on simpler, better industry processes

Passenger looking at departure board

A year after publication of the Plan for Rail, the Government announced legislation “to modernise rail services and improve reliability for passengers”. In response to this announcement, the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) is developing advice on simplification and reform of industry processes in order to inform detailed legislative changes, and identify other, wider changes to rules and contracts.

If you want to know more, you can contact us by email at railwaycommission@gbrtt.co.uk

Update: 13 November 2023

Following the feedback received on our exploratory papers, we are pleased to be able to publish our recommendations for simplifying rail industry rules and processes. This report has also been sent to the Secretary of State for Transport and the Office of Rail and Road:

In the report, we identify opportunities to improve and simplify industry processes in order to achieve better outcomes, often independently of Great British Railways (GBR) being set up.

Taken together, these changes represent a departure from the current fragmented railway and present a huge opportunity to create a simpler, better railway. 

The recommendations we have published today are not final decisions. Rather, they form a coherent approach set of changes for Government and other key parties such as the Office of Rail and Road to consider.

Work can start now to design and deliver some of our recommendations – including simplifying how changes are made at stations, work on the systems involved in delay attribution and some near-term improvements that can allow earlier decisions when needed to deliver major timetable changes. Other recommendations also look ahead to GBR, and will be critical to unlocking the integrated benefits that the creation of a guiding mind can deliver for rail users.  

Update: 26 May 2023

GBRTT has previously produced initial discussion papers which were shared with industry partners for review and comment, with the intention of incorporating this feedback into an update to the Department for Transport later this year (see Update: 14 March 2023) . 

This paper is to update stakeholders on the Commission’s planned work in Phase 2 of our work. Phase 2 will include developing recommendations for future changes to access-related regulations – principally the Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016 (“A&MR”). This paper is produced as part of that wider Commission:  

Update: 14 March 2023

As part of the Commission to deliver a simpler and more integrated railway, GBRTT is publishing a series of exploratory papers to open its thinking up to industry experts and stakeholders. The propositions and comments in these papers are work-in-progress at this stage and are not government policy.

These papers were published on the GBRTT website, so interested parties could provide feedback before the deadline of 31 April 2023. We have now closed that activity.

Correspondence: 29 July 2022