Staying on track

The UK currently finds itself in the midst of widespread industrial unrest, as workers across the economy, struggling with the rising cost of living and unprecedented levels of inflation, resort to strike action in disputes over pay and conditions.

Whilst not alone in their industrial action, the rail industry has come under heavy fire from commuters and festive travellers. Some 40,000 workers across?Network Rail?and 14 train operating companies are involved in the walk-outs in December and January, planned to cause as much disruption as possible over the Christmas break.

It will be hoped by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers that strike?action will act as the catalyst for systematic change. But beyond the capacity crunch, what considerations must the industry promptly address to prevent alienating their already dissatisfied customer base and to ensure they don’t end up derailing to a point of no return.

Social outcomes vs customer experience

It is true that infrastructure projects, including HS2, will undoubtedly help support the long term social outcomes associated with the rail network. ?As Network Rail’s Social Value Framework states, ‘it means adding value, not cost.’ However, the latter has undeniably, if not intentionally, become an unfortunate by-product.

The UK has some of the most expensive train fares in Europe, with high on-the-day ticket prices making spontaneous travel impossible for many and consistent fare increases making rail travel less affordable than ever.

In contrast, trains across Europe are becoming more competitively priced, with governments and rail companies offering discounted or even free travel. Notably in Luxembourg, every passenger travels free on its train services – whether they live in the country or not.

Whilst I am not suggesting that the UK government replicates this model, the pricing formula needs to be reconsidered.

In the short term, the precedence should be tempting people away from private car travel and towards public forms of transport. When driving is the cheaper form of a travel, clearly the system is failing and this is before the carbon and net-zero debate is brought into question.

In order to change the behaviours of the public, the Department for Transport must begin greater investment in the network and make train journeys more accessible, appealing and affordable.

Great British Railways (GBR)

The government is in the process of reforming the UK’s rail service to create the new public body, Great British Railways (GBR) which, unlike Network Rail, will be responsible for services as well as infrastructure. Reintegrating track and train operations under one organisation.

Set to oversee rail transport in Great Britain from 2024, GBR’s future plans must include making train fares more reasonable and increase capacity on the railways by ensuring more regular and reliable services.

Modern commuter trains in France and Germany pay more attention to seat comfort compared to those in the UK, which are typically procured on the basis of how many seats squeezed into carriages at the expense of passenger comfort. It is therefore no surprise that the road network ends up being the preferred method of transport.

Multi-hub economy

The COVID-19 crisis taught us that the UK needs a far more connected, multi-hub economy to tackle regional and social inequality and provide long term economic resilience.

A multi-hub economy must embed transport investment in national and regional strategic planning to ensure it reaps the possible rewards.

The levelling up agenda started by Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove was intended to bring local public transport significantly closer to the standards of London, with improved services, simpler fares and integrated tracking, but is yet to bear fruit.

Further consultations with Northern powerhouses are required to reduce the reliance on the South East and to help raise the profile of sub-national transport bodies.

Planning for the future: planes and trains

However there are signs of progress. Many cities across Europe, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, and Zurich, to name a few, have integrated railway airports, but for some time this has been a less common practice in the UK.

Now the planned Manchester Interchange station of HS2 will be adjacent to the airport and whilst the HS2 Midlands Interchange station will be over 2km away from the airport, the proposed ‘Automated People Mover’ aims to provide connectivity between HS2’s upcoming Interchange station and Birmingham Airport.

Next steps

It’s clear the industry is still rooted with institutional challenges. The UK’s rail network falls short in terms of frequency of services, reliability, affordability and general comfort, especially when compared to both France and Germany.

Network Rail began implementing cuts to spending in 2019 and rather than short-sighted funding cuts, the rail industry needs fundamental overhaul and investment.

I suggest the government takes inspiration from their counterparts on the continent, by showing a stronger commitment to strategic plans for the medium and long term, more joined-up planning and co-operation between national and regional schemes, and, ultimately, greater investment in new rail infrastructure and stations.

But within the last week Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has provided his backing for the high-speed railway line, despite reiterating that the government could “balance the books” if it cancelled projects such as HS2.?

The 'UK’s flagship transport levelling up project' is already a huge commitment for the Treasury so it is unlikely we see any extra money being made available to lure commuters back on to trains anytime soon.