In May 2021 the Government announced a
widespread change to the governance of
the UK's railways. The proposed changes
have been described as the biggest
'shake-up' of the UK's railways since the
privatisation in the 1990s.
The changes, known as the Williams-Shapps
Plan for Rail, involve a new state-owned
body called Great British Railways (GBR).
GBR will control the timetabling, ticket prices
and management of the rail infrastructure,
however the rail services themselves will still
be run privately but will be accountable to new
targets. The plans will include a new 'flexible
rail card' to accommodate the changing habits
of commuters.
These Government plans will continue to
see considerable investment in key projects.
This includes the Cross Rail plans, as well as
the High Speed 2 (HS2) which will receive
considerable funding of £22.8bn up until 2025.
33 per cent of our survey respondents
consider Cross Rail to have the most impact
on regional economies. The new line, running
from Reading and Heathrow under London
to Shenfield and Abbey Wood, is due to
be completed by early 2022 after some
considerable delays.
HS2 was also ranked highly by our respondents
as having a significant positive impact in
regional economies. The new rail line is intended
to connect eight of the UK's ten largest cities.
INFRASTRUCTURE | LISTENING TO THE MIDDLE MARKET 33% of our survey respondents consider
Cross Rail to have the most impact
on regional economies.
20