Andy Bagnall spoke at the National Rail Recovery Conference on Wednesday 4 May. A summary of his appearance can be found below:
Participants
- Andy Bagnall, Director General, Rail Delivery Group (RDG)
- Tan Dhesi MP, Shadow Rail Minister
- Martin Tugwell, Chief Executive, Transport for the North
- Rufus Boyd, Programme Director Passenger and Freight
- Event Chair: Nigel Harris, RAIL and Paul Clifton, Transport Correspondent, BBC
Key points:
Andy Bagnall, RDG: In response to questioning on whether he thought the railway was fundamentally “broken” Andy disagreed and responded by saying that although the industry has significant challenges, the “profound moment of change” we are in will ultimately result positive outcomes for the railway. He went on to say that despite rail needed reform, we mustn’t forget some of the good things that have been delivered over recent years – for example, franchising which delivered some of the growth and improvements which the industry will need to see again. On the private sector, Andy stated that it needs to be given the right freedoms to what it does best, citing the example of the doubling of passenger numbers over the last 25 years. On GBR, Andy stressed that getting the culture right would be crucial to making it a success, while ensuring that it did not become overcentralised to the point that we lose the creativity of what delivered the private sector improvements in the past. When asked about industry cost pressures, Andy emphasised the importance of “running the ruler” over everything we do going forward, in what is an enormous issue for the sector.
Tan Dhesi MP: On industry cost cutting, Tan stressed that it is important that the industry doesn’t “cut” its way out of the pandemic and rather, it needed to “grow” out of it. This, he said, would be crucial to maintaining passengers – who may be put off rail due to reduced services – and avoiding a car-led recovery. When asked about fares, Tan applauded the current efforts to revolutionise the system, however, he said that we needed to ensure fares remained sustainable, citing the recent reduction of fares in New Zealand as an example of how we could make further improvements. During the session, Tan also expressed concerns of the lack of integration across the country and said this is another example of where we can make improvements across the industry.
Martin Tugwell, Transport for the North: When questioned on the country levelling up, Martin stated that rail would be central to this as it would heavily rely on the movement of both people and goods. As such, he said we would need to plan for an 80% increase in rail to deliver future improvements to the economy, environment and social equity. On freight, Martin said that the market is still changing post-pandemic and that with 25% of freight beginning in the North, we need to make “tough decisions” to figure how we get the best out of the system. Working with local leaders, he said, would be crucial to this becoming a reality.
Rufus Boyd, GBRTT: Rufus stated that, with country now being very much post-pandemic, it was important that the industry stop using pre-Covid figure as a baseline for all of our future work, as this mindset would “hold us back” from embracing the true realities of the situation. He said the market has now changed significantly, especially commuter and business markets and that it was important that we start focussing on the figures of today. On the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, Rufus said that this is a huge opportunity to rebuild a new and improved network.
