Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Accepted
Publish an urgent rolling stock strategy, aligned with pipelines and developed with industry.
Recommendation
We welcome the Government’s commitment to publishing a rolling stock strategy in 2026: this work is urgent. The strategy must be clearly aligned with the pipeline of both major projects and enhancements, so that decisions about track and about the trains that will run on it can be taken in a timely, coordinated way. It should provide near-term certainty as well as a basis for industry to undertake medium and long-term planning, and it must be drawn up in collaboration with industry with the explicit intention of avoiding unnecessary peaks and troughs in procurement. (Recommendation, Paragraph 91)
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the Committee’s emphasis on integration and is already underway with operators and delivery partners on upcoming fleet replacement programmes to ensure that infrastructure requirements are considered from the outset; the Rolling Stock and Infrastructure Whole System Strategy will set out its vision.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Agree The Government agrees with the Committee’s emphasis on integration. Fragmentation of planning and procurement has historically contributed to inefficiencies and misalignment between infrastructure capability and rolling stock deployment. We are, therefore, not waiting for reform to complete before taking steps to ensure that these decisions are considered together rather than sequentially. Work is already underway with operators and delivery partners on upcoming fleet replacement programmes to ensure that infrastructure requirements are considered from the outset. We agree that the national train fleet needs to be simplified to help achieve better value for money, easier redeployment of fleet around the network and provide a more consistent and high-quality experience for passengers. The Rolling Stock and Infrastructure Whole System Strategy will set out our vision for how this could be achieved as fleets get replaced and refurbished over time. We have a bold vision for a more accessible and welcoming railway and are already working with NR on the infrastructure implications if all new trains were built to be level with the platform, as can be seen on some greater Anglia services. The establishment of GBR will further embed this integration by consolidating strategic planning functions within a single guiding framework, reducing the risk of siloed decision-making and enhancing system-wide efficiency and effectiveness. This integrated approach is expected to reduce whole-life costs, avoid stranded assets and give suppliers greater confidence in future demand.