Call for railway ‘revolution’

THE summer rail timetable chaos was caused by a lack of leadership within the Government and the industry, an official inquiry has found, as Chris Grayling signalled a “revolution” was needed to make Britain’s trains fit for the 21st century.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said the industry had “placed engineering and planning concerns ahead of serving its passengers”, while Network Rail and the Department for Transport had failed to understand adequately the risk of major disruption.

The publication of the ORR report came as the Transport Secretary announced a wholesale review of the rail industry that could consider renationalisation.

Mr Grayling has appointed Keith Williams, the deputy chairman of John Lewis, to lead the review and he will be responsible for setting its terms of reference and whether it should include

an examination of renationalisation, one of Jeremy Corbyn’s key policies.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Grayling said he opposed a return to public ownership, but he insisted timetabling woes and the collapse of the East Coast franchise had shown “evolution is no longer enough”.

The ORR report is likely to lead to renewed pressure on Mr Grayling after it concluded the Department for Transport had the power to avert the timetabling crisis.

The report said Mr Grayling’s department, as well as the ORR itself, have responsibility to oversee Britain’s railways but neither “sufficiently tested the assurances that they received from the industry about the risk of disruption, despite having information and powers

that would have allowed them to do so”. The report criticised Network Rail, the body responsible for maintaining track and which managed the timetable process, which it said was in the “best position to understand and manage the risks, but did not take sufficient action”.

It also warned of an “apparent gap” in responsibility and accountability, with the industry needing to change to address the issue in comments likely to spark speculation that a new rail authority may be established.

Mr Grayling will hope his announcement of a “root and branch” review will help win back the trust of disillusioned passengers who have suffered delays and increasing fares.

The review will be seen as a clear attempt by the Government to neutralise Labour on a key election issue.