Reimagining our Railway

Building back better is essential for the environment, the economy and our communities

Last Friday I led a session at GTR’s annual stakeholder conference focusing on Reimagining the Railway, during which I was joined by two of our Network Rail colleagues, Paul Harwood and Paul Rutter.

Together we explored whether the pandemic has provided us with an opportunity to build back better, including what sort of railway we could aspire to create.

How Covid has impacted rail

To start with, let’s look at how the pandemic has impacted on our industry.

Firstly, on passenger demand. There was a major fall in passenger demand at the onset of the pandemic, followed by a recovery to about 40% in late Autumn, but we’re back towards 14%. In our case, that’s around 150,000 people per day

Next, we have seen a massive modal shift - in the wrong direction. Whilst no method of public transport recovered to over 60% of pre-pandemic levels, car usage neared 100% in the summer, despite much of the country continuing to work from home.

To be clear – if that trend is sustained after coronavirus, once more people start travelling - it will be a disaster for the quality of life in our cities and towns, let alone the impact on climate change and public health. At GTR we have always looked at how we can minimise our impact on the environment and our recent stakeholder survey shows a growing awareness, up 8%, of that work.

Thirdly, the industry’s finances. Covid has cost the best part of the annual ￡12 billion in passenger fares. The taxpayer has stepped up, and is providing support for the industry during coronavirus, but it is unrealistic to expect that to continue indefinitely at this level.

That means two things. We need to fight for our customers to return to rail, and it means industry costs will be under the tightest scrutiny they have ever seen.

Lastly is a bit of important good news. In comparing the average for mid-September to Mid-December for 2019, there is a major improvement in On Time punctuality averaging a 13 percentage point improvement in the number of services that are on-time (within 59 seconds) at every single station.

That has been driven by operating a slightly smaller timetable – showing there’s a benefit to not running the network at the level where congestion undermines performance which is the number one driver of customer satisfaction.

There is no doubt that we have created a really good product for key workers and those that have been travelling – but the question is, how can we keep that going as more customers return?

So, if this is where we are as an industry, what should be our plan for post pandemic recovery?

Build Back Better

This period has underlined the need to provide a resilient, reliable network. This was always a priority for us and our passengers but with the emphasis on social distancing, and in the context of encouraging passengers back to the railway, it’s more important than ever to have confidence in your planned journey. 

Overall, we’ve seen consistently higher punctuality over the last year. But let’s be clear, there is a trade off between the numbers of trains per hour, and how reliable and punctual those trains are. We know customer numbers will be lower than in the past – so how do we get the balance right and create a punctual, reliable product that people want to use?

Ticketing is another key part of the Industry’s recovery challenge. We have already improved electronic options for example with many more barcode readers on the network and ticket office colleagues trained to provide smartcards but we know there is a desire also to see ticketing reform with greater flexibility.

We also need to have a railway that’s as accessible and inclusive as possible and supports everyone in travelling with us. We've recently confirmed our Accessible Travel Policy following development with our advisory panel and the Office of Road and Rail. This is something I am proud of. It will bring important practical developments such as improvements in information and reduction of the recommended time on pre-booking assistance.

We are also working with NR on the next stage of the Access for All programme at 18 stations on our network.

Last but not least, this is a people business and it’s my colleagues that have been out on the frontline throughout all of this, so it’s about giving them the training and the support they need to continue to deliver excellent work.

Build Back Greener

The pandemic has clearly pushed back modal shift with more people opting for their private cars. Public transport has a key role to play in supporting a greener recovery by encouraging a return to rail - allowing people to make sustainable choices.

In the last 20 years, rail journeys in this country have doubled. But we will need to be responsive to new needs to regain lost ground. This means big picture change.

We believe that Active Travel (walking and cycling) and Public Transport are complementary.

To support cycling we have provided new hubs such as at Elstree & Borehamwood. While we’d love everyone to reach the railway on foot, by bike or by bus, people will continue to drive – so where we can, we’re also supporting the shift to electric vehicles with  more electric vehicle charging.

Finally, we are keen to support Network Rail’s efforts to improve the railway’s wider environmental impact, and the Riding Sunbeams partnership to provide solar electricity to the traction supply directly at Eastbourne is one to watch and learn from when it launches in March.

Build Back Faster

We want to make these changes at pace, and in collaboration with key stakeholders and others in the industry so that they are timely, efficient and deliver value by creating an environment that will attract people back.

This crisis has accelerated change in so many ways as we as individuals and companies have sought to respond to its effects. It encouraged a digital response at GTR - capturing key passenger number data from many different sources into a single hub to support social distancing in real time and enable forward planning. 

We've instigated seven different timetable updates in line with the impact of the virus, and with Network Rail we’ve worked to provide access to the network so that they could bring forward key engineering of work. 

Network Rail has been using this time to safely deliver major projects like Gatwick Airport station and King’s Cross, bringing in adaptions to keep them moving while the network is quiet and with coronavirus precautions in place. We’re also working with Network Rail on new approaches such as our ‘golden corridors’ – enhanced integrated plans for the critical sections of the network.

We must maintain this kind of agility into the future so we can adapt rapidly to the changing requirements of our customers.

The pandemic has shaken the industry but provides a once in a generation opportunity to Build a Better, Greener and Faster railway - with a focus on customer service, partnership and investment.