Recommendation 23

In order to achieve this: • the Strategy should set out firm objectives on matters of long- term infrastructure policy including electrification, rolling stock, accessibility and capacity; • the Strategy should be the means for setting out commitments to the largest infrastructure programmes on the railway—those at the level of HS2 or Northern Powerhouse Rail which take more than a decade— with a clear articulation of how these programmes will achieve the Government’s strategic objectives; • the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline must be informed by the Long Term Rail Strategy, with schemes at all stages of development clearly matched to its strategic objectives; • the new rolling stock strategy must also be transparently and closely aligned to the strategic objectives set out in the LTRS; and 53 • the Strategy should set out how and by what criteria proposed infrastructure projects and enhancements will be assessed, including their potential to deliver the Government’s strategic aims for the railway. (Recommendation, Paragraph 111)