Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The rail transformation programme
Published 27 May 2024
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Rail reform: The rail transformation programme All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We are not convinced that the Department has paid sufficient attention, in advance of the delayed creation of Great British Railways, to the changes it can make now to improve the situation for passengers and taxpayers. The Department expected its reform programme to result in annual savings of £1.5 billion. But GBR has not yet been established and this scale of saving will not materialise for many years. The Department is framing its ambitions for rail reform around the introduction of GBR, seeing this as the point at which it can start to accelerate its reforms. However, it could take up to 2 years after legislation is enacted before GBR becomes operational, while passengers and taxpayers must continue to wait for much-needed improvements. The Department is planning improvement work that does not require legislation in the meantime, but we have not seen any real sense of urgency in what it is trying to do. Recommendation 4: The Department needs to make tangible, visible progress in implementing reforms which improve outcomes for passengers and taxpayers. Its Treasury Minute response should set out a) what passenger improvements and outcomes it has delivered and b) an update on the savings it has made from rail reform in this interim period and how it has made these savings.
From: Public Accounts Committee, Thirty-Eighth Report - Rail reform: The rail transformation programme (HC 652), 27 May 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 11 July 2025 (deadline 27 July 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the six recommendations, with target implementation dates ranging from Winter 2024 to Spring 2025, and one marked as already implemented.
- On delivering reform, it states the department is "remobilising" and preparing for the mobilisation of shadow Great British Railways, and will "set out next steps shortly". Further legislation to create GBR was announced in the King's Speech.
- On passenger focus, it says GBR will be "incentivised by targets and performance criteria set by the Secretary of State", and a new Passenger Standards Authority will independently monitor standards.
- On subsidy and value for money, the department "expects to see these reforms delivered over the course of this parliamentary term" as legislation is enacted and private operators move into public ownership. The target implementation date given is Spring 2025.
- On accessibility, it says the department "will set out next steps as soon as possible" and will use accessibility audit data from all 2,575 stations to target future investment decisions.