A critical report by Nicola Shaw, chief executive of HS1, ruled out the wholesale privatisation and breakup of Network Rail. Nicola Shaw’s review was commissioned in 2015, after Network Rail was unable to deliver upgrades in a £38bn (EUR 48.3 bn) five-year plan.
The report calls for greater local flexibility and autonomy for the UK’s railways. This could be done by further changes to the flow of funding, with train companies paying for devolved routes to use the tracks, and having a bigger say in how the railways are run. The report also leaves open the possibility of bringing more private finance into the running of the railways, at local level or for specific projects.
The report concludes that Network Rail’s structures do not give “sufficient focus on financial discipline” and that the government’s role needs to be clarified, with more transparent accountability, and more input from local authorities.
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