Recommendation 11

After our evidence session, on 20 May, the Department published its long-delayed Rail white paper, which outlines its “once-in-a-generation” reforms planned for the rail system, including replacing franchising and better integrating infrastructure with passenger services.25 The Department acknowledges that it must overcome a “complex and…deep-rooted set of issues” to improve the system, and that such a large reform programme will be fraught with risks.26 Despite this, the Department told us it expects reforms to be complete within the lifetime of this Parliament.27 Our recent report Lessons from major projects and programmes is a stark reminder of the repeated difficulties we see in the delivery of major programmes. These include programmes not keeping to cost or schedule, a lack of transparency in progress and weak leadership and governance.28 Our scrutiny of other reform programmes shows that large reform programmes are susceptible to overambition which leads to delays in delivery.29 21 Committee of Public Accounts, Rail franchising in the UK, Twenty-Fifth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 689, April 2018; Transport Committee, Rail franchising, Ninth Report of the Session 2017–19, HC 66, February 2017 22 Committee of Public Accounts, Rail franchising in the UK, Twenty-Fifth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 689, April 2018 23 Q 19 24 Q 19; C&AG’s report, p7 25 Secretary of State for Transport, Great British Railways, The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, Department for Transport, May 2021; Q 24 26 Qq 19, 24 27 Qq 26, 27 28 Committee of Public Accounts, Lessons from major projects and programmes, Twenty-Ninth Report of Session 2019–10, HC 694, p3 29 Committee of Public Accounts, Transforming Courts and Tribunals: progress review, Second Report of Session 2019–20, HC 27, p3 Overview of the English rail system 11 Oversight of the rail system