The government’s plans to reform the country’s troubled rail system have been severely delayed and promised savings have yet to materialize, according to a highly critical report from the government spending watchdog.
A National Audit Office (NAO) review of progress against the ministerial program found the government failed to achieve any of the 12 “high-level effectiveness” targets set for rail in 2021.
It also revealed that the government has not delivered on its pledged target of saving £2.6 billion by 2024/25, instead predicting that it will only achieve three-quarters of the target.
In 2021, the government published a white paper on rail reform, which included the establishment of British Rail, an arm’s-length body designed to provide “guidance” for overseeing the management of the network. At that time, the company planned to establish GBR in early 2024, establish a new operating model and introduce new passenger service contracts.
However, these and most of the government’s other commitments are either still in progress or suspended entirely, the NAO said.
Of the 12 high-level performance targets, which focus on issues ranging from financials to customer performance, none received a green rating, suggesting they are on track. Five of them are rated red and the remaining seven are rated amber.
It also found that although 21 of the 62 commitments in the white paper required changes to the law to be completed, none of the necessary legislation had been passed.
The 2022 Queen’s Speech includes plans to introduce legislation before the end of Parliament to allow for structural changes to support reform. However, the proposal has been delayed by the government and rail reform was not mentioned in the King’s speech last year, further delaying the legislation.
The NAO report found the scheme’s governance arrangements were “complex and ineffective”.
Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office (NAO), said: “The Department for Transport intends to push through a series of complex reforms so quickly that there will not be enough time to plan, agree and implement them. .
“DfT should work more closely with organizations across the rail industry to help improve collaboration and culture ahead of any structural changes; to have a clear understanding of what it wants to deliver and then develop realistic plans to achieve its objectives.”
Andy Bagnall, chief executive of Rail Partners, which represents private sector rail groups, said the rail sector needed a “thorough” review but without legislation the scheme would remain “in trouble”.
A DfT spokesman said: “We set out clear plans for the future of Britain’s rail industry in the recently published draft bill and we are now progressing improvements that will benefit millions of customers, such as the expansion of pay-as-you-go ticketing , piloting simpler fares and announcing rail freight growth targets. “
Separately, delays on England’s road network are now worse than before the pandemic, the Department for Transport revealed on Thursday. Its statistics show average delays on England’s motorways and major A-roads last year were 10.5 seconds per vehicle per mile.
This is up from 9.3 seconds in 2022 and 9.5 seconds in 2019 before the coronavirus crisis. The average network speed in 2023 was 57.0 mph, down from 58.1 mph the previous year and 58.0 mph in 2019.
Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, said: “It is very worrying that delays on our most important roads have increased above pre-pandemic levels and average speeds have fallen.
“More people than ever are working from home at least part of the week and while the number of cars on the road has not increased since then we are working to find out why this is beyond roadworks.
A DfT spokesman said: “This government supports drivers, which is why we are continuing with our plans to invest more than £24 billion in our roads to reduce congestion, improve road safety and grow the economy.”
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