London, 22nd January 2026 – The Alliance of Passenger Rail New Entrants (ALLRAIL) has submitted evidence to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee scrutinising the Government’s Railways Bill, warning that the Bill as currently drafted is unfairly skewed in favour of Great British Railways (GBR) services and risks not delivering on the Government’s objectives of growth and investment.

If enacted in its current form, ALLRAIL argues that the Bill would create the most centralised railway in Europe, increasing bureaucracy and costs, weakening customer outcomes, and crowding out private investment – with more financial risk ultimately sitting with taxpayers.

At the heart of ALLRAIL’s concerns is the absence, on the face of the Bill, of an explicit requirement for GBR to act fairly, transparently and non-discriminatorily when taking decisions affecting other operators (including open access passenger services and freight). This is presented as policy intent by both DfT and Network Rail, but is not currently embedded as a statutory function that GBR “must do”.

ALLRAIL is also calling for a stronger duty on the use of public funds. The Bill’s current approach focuses on “efficient use” of public money, but that does not guarantee spending is directed to the right priorities. The duty should be widened to require GBR to demonstrate value for money – ensuring decisions maximise benefits for passengers, communities and taxpayers, and complement the proposed public-interest duty.

There needs to be a stronger, clearer role for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) as an effective independent safeguard – including concern that appeals should not be constrained to judicial review principles and that it should still be able to take into account the benefits of competition.

The draconian power allowing the Secretary of State to amend or terminate existing access rights/agreements needs to be curtailed to what is necessary to make contracts legally operable.

Finally, the Bill needs to maximise the benefits to passengers through retail competition: require GBR to promote a thriving competitive ticket retail market and sell all operators’ tickets impartially.

“Rail reform must improve outcomes for passengers and taxpayers. It must ensure a level playing field and value for money for the taxpayer,” said John Thomas, Policy Director at ALLRAIL. “If GBR is both running services and deciding who else can run, Parliament must hardwire fairness and effective independent oversight into the Bill — and it must also require GBR to deliver clear value for money from the public funds it will control.”

Notes to editors

ALLRAIL is the global non-profit association of independent passenger rail companies. In the UK, ALLRAIL represents six rail passenger owning groups: Arriva, Go-Ahead, FirstGroup, Mitsui, MTR UK and Transport UK Group.