The future of Britain’s railway is a debate which, for people in the industry, has sometimes felt almost as hotly contested as Brexit. On both sides, emotions run high, opinions are polarised and cold, hard facts are the collateral damage.

25 years ago, Britain’s railway embarked on a bold new journey. It’s time to change track once again. 

While almost every part of our economy and every business is being transformed by technology, for many rail travellers, the orange magstripe ticket is still an all too familiar sight.

John Thomas, Director of Policy at the Rail Delivery Group, explains why Network Rail and train operators pay each other if performance is better or worse than expected – and why headlines about profit from disruption aren’t all that they seem…