Great British Railways (GBR), which would take over infrastructure manager Network Rail and be responsible for handing out rail contracts, will not go ahead in 2024 due to the scrapping of the transport bill. The transport secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, told the Commons that the bill was being dropped because of the need to prioritize legislation to tackle the energy crisis. He said a lighter version of the bill could be introduced by looking at legislation around transportation technologies such as e-scooters. Asked about the transport bill by the transport select committee, Trevelyan said: “The challenges of things like the energy legislation that we have to put in and various others mean that we’ve missed the opportunity to have it in this third session. What we continue to propose will be what I would call a narrow bill for the future of transportation technologies, the legislation around things like e-scooters.” He added: “This larger piece around the transformation of the railways, we will have to consider in the fourth session.” Department for Transport permanent secretary Dame Bernadette Kelly told the committee: “There are key elements of structural change and the introduction of GBR that require legislation, including, for example, I think the formal transfer of franchising powers from the government – from the DfT – to another entity. “So clearly there are certain things that we cannot do fully structurally without legislation and without those powers.” Trevelyan said: “What we’re looking at at the moment is whether, in fact, across this whole piece, there are some parts that don’t actually require primary legislation, so how do we make smart use of the time we have It’s taken until we get to the second half next year to really start implementing those areas of transformation that we can.” The DfT announced in July that Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle and York had been selected to host GBR’s headquarters. Andy Bagnall, Rail Partners industry managing director, said: “It is disappointing that the legislation to create GBR will be delayed, but we look forward to working with the Secretary of State, the Rail Secretary and the leadership of the Great British Railways transition team. reform progress in its absence. “It is critical that there is no long pause and there are immediate steps that can be taken now, such as enabling revenue incentives in national rail contracts and market feedback to develop passenger service contracts, which can accelerate growth and support a revitalized public-private sector cooperation”.
