United Kingdom: railway reform turns its back on privatization

London-Waterloo station.

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2 min

Twenty-five years after privatizing its railways, the UK wants to backtrack.

The government announced on Monday, September 21 that it was ending private franchises and announced a reform to replace them with concession contracts.

In addition, emergency measures to support rail companies during the pandemic have been extended and will cover their losses for another 18 months.

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From our correspondent in London

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The government's decision is the first step towards less fragmented management of the British rail network currently divided into 16 franchises across the country and managed by many operators including SNCF.

Gone are therefore the franchises which gave the entire management of the lines to private operators and whose failures have in recent years been widely criticized for additional costs, delays and inefficiencies and have led

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As of September 21, new concession-type contracts will allow an operator to manage a line for the payment of a commission with in return performance targets that are more demanding than before.

The Ministry of Transport hopes that this mechanism will be simpler and more efficient, but specifies that this model is temporary and wants to evolve in the long term towards a new system which will preserve according to him the best aspects of the private sector, in particular competition and investment, but with a strategic vision and a sense of responsibility.

This reform will be unveiled in a white paper published when the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic allows it.

The government specifies that British taxpayers will have to finance these temporary emergency measures in the short term and as long as the traffic remains below normal, but assures that the reform will be beneficial in the long term for the public finances.

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• United Kingdom

• Transport

• Finance

• Coronavirus