Recommendation 18

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)