The Railways Bill, published this week, confirms some of the risks created by the Government’s plans for Great British Railways (GBR). However, it fails to recommend the full suite of safeguards needed to provide the necessary assurances which would give confidence to the private sector to continue to invest in Britain’s railway, fostering growth and productivity.

ALLRAIL welcomes the renewed emphasis by the United Kingdom government this week on improving rail connectivity with the European Union. This follows remarks made last week by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer about “taking the UK deeper into the EU single market”. Rail is a natural and logical area for

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.

Our Policy Director John Thomas gave evidence to this Committee in the UK parliament, London, alongside Steve Montgomery of our member operator First Rail and Maggie Simpson OBE of Rail Freight Group.

The new Railways Bill could deliver growth and better services - but only if Great British Railways (GBR) is designed as an open, investment-friendly framework - rather than a closed system.

ALLRAIL’s new Briefing Note gives a detailed response on how to make that happen: transparent decision-making, room for open access, and a genuine partnership with the private sector.