This is not working in its current form. The warning signs of a market that is not delivering are clear - franchises being extended, few bidders for new franchises and operator failures. The needs of rail traveller are too often at the bottom of the list. When the Committee published its last report on franchising both Keith Williams (who is heading up the root and branch review of the rail system) and Network Rail hinted that the rail network may be broken up into regional parts.1 There is wide acknowledgement that the system is not working.
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1 Department for Transport, The Williams Rail Review March 2019, accessed 24 June 2019