Britain’s Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has launched the Shadow Great British Railways (Shadow GBR) and announced that the Government is to prioritise passengers over private companies to eliminate decades of delays, cancellations and unreliable services on country’s railways.
The Shadow Great British Railways will set in motion a huge overhaul of the running of the rail network, bringing together leaders from the Department for Transport, Network Rail and publicly-owned operators.
The Shadow GBR is established by Network Rail, the Rail Services in the Department for Transport, and DfT OLR Holdings Ltd (DOHL), which are main organisations responsible for the operational railway. They will be working in closer collaboration, bringing together track and train to deliver for passengers and freight users, ahead of legislation to create Great British Railways (GBR) as an arm’s length body.
Shadow GBR will pave the way for Great British Railways, a new unified arm’s length body responsible for finally bringing track and train back together and overseeing both services and infrastructure.
The announcement comes as the government’s Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill continues its passage through the Commons, marking further progress in the to put rail services back into the hands of the public. The legislation will prioritise passengers over private companies, putting the railways back on track, while saving taxpayers up to an estimated GBP 150 million (EUR 178 million) every year in fees alone in the process.
“Establishing Shadow Great British Railways marks a significant step towards delivering a unified railway with passengers at its heart by bringing together track and train, and by progressing the Passenger Railways Services Bill we’re one step closer to public ownership which will help put our railways back on track,” Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said.
The Transport Secretary has already started the work to modernise the railways to accomplish its goal to put passengers first.
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