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Research and Reports

A database of documents and reports released by industry bodies. You can download the document by clicking on its title, and can filter reports by author or subject. If you have a report you would like to submit to the Rail Hub, please email [email protected].

 

  • Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline Update

    01/10/2019
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps bowed to industry pressure by publishing details of enhancement schemes passing through his Department’s development pipeline, just hours before appearing at the House of Commons Select Committee. The 15-page autumn update contains details of projects in one of three stages - initiate, develop and design. Only projects that pass all three stages and then receive authority to deliver are passed to Network Rail. Among those enhancements in the initiate phase are reopening the line from Skipton-Colne, congestion relief for Paddington, and capacity improvements at Birmingham Moor Street. Projects being developed include restoring passenger services to the freight-only Ashington-Blyth line and western access to Heathrow. Schemes now being designed include the Portishead reopening and the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade. The DfT’s pipeline publication followed the Railway Industry Association’s launch of a ‘Show Us the Rail Enhancements’ (SURE) campaign, which included a website clock recording that it had been more than a year since the DfT had said it would publish pipeline details.

  • National Travel Survey: 2018

    31/07/2019
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Rail accounted for 2% of all journeys completed in 2018, and 9% of the total distance travelled in England. Rail was the fourth most popular form of transport (after private vehicles, walking and buses), but the second most popular in terms of distance travelled. People completed around nine trips by private transport for each one by public transport, although rail is gaining popularity. Surface rail trips per person increased in England from 13 journeys in 2002 to 22 in 2018. Passengers travelled an average of 618 miles in 2018 (an increase of 41% since 2002) with the average journey taking 81 minutes. Excluding London Underground, 73% of all rail trips undertaken last year exceeded ten miles.

  • The Blake Jones Review of the Rail North Partnership

    19/07/2019
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    The Blake Jones Review, co-authored by Leeds City Council Leader Judith Blake and former Rail Minister Andrew Jones, is one of three reviews commissioned in late 2018 to consider the problems surrounding the introduction of the May 2018 timetable, and how to prevent them happening again. It recommends introducing a ‘Passenger Promise’ to enhance what passengers can expect from the industry, while also increasing transparency and political oversight in order to improve lines of accountability for who is responsible for making key decisions. In response, Northern leaders including Blake have said that deeper rail devolution in the North must be considered by the Williams Review.

  • Lessons from transport for the sponsorship of major projects

    01/04/2019
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Published jointly by the Department for Transport and the Infrastructure Projects Authority, this report identifies 24 best practice lessons in transport infrastructure delivery across five key themes, including accountability, systems integration and entry into service. Following the recent problems encountered by major projects such as Crossrail and the summer 2018 timetable change, DfT Permanent Secretary Bernadette Kelly writes in her foreword that the report will “help raise the bar in how we deliver projects in government”. She adds: “For me, two points emerge from this work above all. The first is that the delivery of projects is as much about the interaction of human behaviours… as it is about processes. “The second is that major projects of this scale and complexity are inherently difficult, so we must constantly challenge ourselves to strive for excellence if we are to deliver for users and taxpayers.”

  • Transport Infrastructure Efficiency Strategy: One Year On

    01/03/2019
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    In this first annual report since implementing the TIES, progress has been demonstrated in the seven TIES challenge areas which include exploiting digital technology, improving the industry’s understanding of costs and performance, and enabling delivery. In his foreword, Transport Infrastructure Efficiency Taskforce (TIET) chairman and London Transport commissioner Mike Brown MVO writes: “Collaboration is key to the TIES’ success. In our second year, I am keen to work with other infrastructure clients whose participation could offer mutual benefit to our collective endeavour”.

  • Public attitudes towards train services

    01/02/2019
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Never the most exciting report, but important for planners who need to know how people use railways. It reveals that in February 2018, almost two-thirds of adults in Great Britain used rail at least once in the previous 12 months, which it said was substantially higher than the 55% recorded in 2015. Rail use was higher among managerial and professional occupations, and higher in households with higher incomes. A quarter lived 11-20 minutes walk from their nearest station and 37% lived more than 30 minutes walk away, although the report doesn’t say whether they walked.

  • Pay as you go on rail

    01/02/2019
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    This consultation examines how London’s successful pay-as-you-go Oyster card system might be expanded across the rail network. It looks at expanding London’s system into the wider South East region (bounded by Reading, Tring, Luton, Stevenage, Stansted Airport, Witham, Rainham, Horsham, Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, Guildford and Aldershot), with the DfT exploring how to alter fares and whether to introduce daily capping (as London has). Looking further afield to, for example, Brighton, Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Oxford, it seeks passenger views on how comfortable they would be using pay-as-you-go.

  • Transport Statistics Great Britain 2018

    01/12/2018
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Rail accounted for 3% of trips but 11% of distance travelled in 2017, according to the latest annual statistics released by the Department for Transport. Cars were used for 62% of trips (78% of distance), while more than a quarter of trips were on foot - but only 1% of distance. 4.9 billion journeys were made on local bus services (62% lower than in 1950), while commuting and business purposes accounted for more than half (51%) of trips made by surface rail. Total number of passenger kilometres in 2017 was 808 billion - the highest volume ever recorded.

  • Joint rail data action plan: Addressing barriers to make better use of rail data

    08/08/2018
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    This paper focuses on five themes: data transparency; data use and access; data standards and quality; data value and principles; and rail culture and information/data skills. “Unlocking the value of data is crucial”, it argues, to delivering the Department for Transport objectives that include what it describes as cementing the country’s place at the forefront of the transport technological revolution. Publication of the ‘action plan’ is set against the background of the National Infrastructure Commission’s report Data for the Public Good.

  • Connecting people: a strategic vision for rail

    29/11/2017
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    “If the first stages of Britain’s railway renaissance were reversing decades of decline, and securing the long-term funding to modernist the infrastructure, then the next stage – outlined in this document – will change the way the industry works. This will be a process of evolution rather than revolution, in order to avoid the danger of reorganisation becoming the sole focus of the sector, at the expense of the passenger and freight customer.”

  • Rail Freight Strategy: Moving Britain Ahead

    13/09/2016
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Four key areas of priority for freight are listed in this paper from the Department for Transport: innovation and skills; network capacity; track access charging; and telling the story of rail freight. Among a number of actions to be taken, the DfT says it will work with Network Rail to “consider the potential for a network of nodal yards” and “consider how the current and future requirements of rail freight could be more systematically considered in the passenger franchising process”.

  • Rolling Stock Perspective second edition: Moving Britain Ahead

    23/05/2016
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Efficient use of space, low environmental impact, better onboard facilities and trains more easily transferred between operators are among the things the DfT calls for in this report into rolling stock. It also says it wants to see controlled emission toilets fitted across the fleet before the January 2020 deadline that has already been set. The second such paper, the 2016 report will be followed by annually updated versions from now on.

  • High Speed Two: East and West The next steps to Crewe and beyond

    30/11/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Government has decided to bring forward High Speed Two’s arrival in Crewe by six years - but will not make provision for connecting HS2 to the existing HS1. The ‘command paper’ says construction beyond Birmingham will be accelerated so that HS2 reaches Crewe in 2027 - just one year after Phase 1 opens to Birmingham. The government also says it supports the vision of a ‘Crewe Hub’ to benefit connectivity at this major junction. Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin reports that HS2 “will not be a separate, standalone railway”, being instead “a key part of our national rail network, and wider transport infrastructure”. Full completion of HS2’s ‘Y’-shaped route to Leeds/Manchester plus connections is planned for 2033, with remaining route options to be announced in 2016. However, one piece of infrastructure the new railway will be separate from is Britain’s high-speed connection from London to the continent. The report argues that linking the two high-speed lines was considered, but options looked at were “complex and expensive to construct and would have delivered infrequent, less attractive train services for HS2 passenger travelling to European destinations.” No provision is to be provided for a link, whether ‘active’ or ‘passive’.

  • Report of the Bowe Review into the planning of Network Rail’s Enhancements Programme 2014-2019

    25/11/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    The Transport Secretary has accepted all the recommendations in the report by Dame Colette Bowe into the planning of Network Rail’s infrastructure improvements. Examining factors that led to the failures to meet costs and timescales set out in the Control Period 5 infrastructure programme, Bowe found “a lack of clarity among and within the Department [for Transport], Network Rail and the ORR [Office of Rail and Road] about their respective responsibilities, despite these roles nominally being set out in legislation. This was exacerbated by inconsistent communication between the organisations, allowing misunderstandings to persist.” Organisational changes in both the DfT and NR contributed to the situation, and there was a belief that the ORR was undertaking roles it was not. A contributory factor was that the CP5 enhancement programme is much bigger than that of CP4 - meaning that structures which coped with a lower level of work proved less robust with a larger programme. Bowe has recommended that the roles of the respective organisations are clarified, that more robust governance/oversight is introduced, that the views/needs of end users are taken into account, and that there is a “stronger focus on deliverability”. Proposals include reviewing the ORR’s role with respect to infrastructure enhancements, and that “bespoke and integrated governance” should be considered for major projects - as has already been the case with schemes such as Crossrail or Thameslink. Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin said that he accepted the report’s recommendations and that the DfT, “working with Network Rail (NR) and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), will take urgent steps to develop and implement a number of actions to put in place an improved approach to planning and delivering rail infrastructure enhancements.”

  • The Future Shape and Financing of Network Rail: the scope

    12/11/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Respondents hoping to shape the ‘Shaw Report’ into Network Rail’s future have until December 24 to make their points. The consultation period follows the publication on November 12 of the initial ‘scoping study’; discussion sessions are to be held around the country. Options being considered for the infrastructure operator are wide ranging and include possible privatisation or sale of assets along the lines of the government’s disposal of High Speed 1. Recommendations will not be limited by any need to enact legislation in order to deliver them - an exception being “those cases where current or future European Union (EU) directives might prevent the UK from acting to legislate in a particular manner.” This is particularly relevant given the forthcoming ‘fourth railway package’ that aims for a single European rail area. ‘The Shaw Report’ - so known after HS1 CEO Nicola Shaw who is in charge of it - was announced in July and is one of three ongoing investigations into NR, the others being by chairman Sir Peter Hendy and former OFCOM chair Dame Colette Brown. It is to be completed before the 2016 Budget, with the aim being that any recommendations could be implemented by the 2019 start of Control Period 6.

  • Rolling Stock Perspective: moving ahead

    07/07/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Nearly 4,000 additional vehicles are needed on the UK railway in the next nine years according to this latest report. It takes a wide look at the industry's needs, and has been compiled with input from rolling stock leasing companies, train manufacturers and National Rail Enquiries. Claire Perry writes in her foreword that the DfT welcomes innovation to deliver greater capacity through interoperability - for example, the use of longer or double-decker trains that don't need complicated infrastructure.

  • Promoter's Response to the Select Committee's First Special Report of Session 2014-15

    04/06/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Promoter refers to the DfT, HS2 Ltd or relevant nominated parties. This covers their collective responses to the interim Select Committee report on the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill, published on March 26. It addresses each matter in turn and sets out timescales for future progress reports. The 'Promoter' responds to the Select Committee's encouragement that HS2 should be more timely in its engagement with petitioners, seeking to provide assurance that it is making headway on this front.

  • Dispensation letter – accessibility legislation – Class 150/2 units

    11/05/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Letter from Department for Transport to Porterbrook authorising use of Class 150/2 units beyond December 31 2019.

  • Class 319 dispensation letter

    Dispensation letter – accessibility legislation – Class 319 units

    11/05/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Letter from Department for Transport to Porterbrook authorising use of Class 319 units beyond December 31 2019.

  • Class 321 dispensation letter

    Dispensation letter – accessibility legislation – Class 321 units

    05/05/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Letter from Department for Transport to Eversholt Rail Group authorising use of Class 321 units beyond December 31 2019.

  • Class 365 dispensation letter

    Dispensation letter – accessibility legislation – Class 365 units

    05/05/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Letter from Department for Transport to Eversholt Rail Group authorising use of Class 365 units beyond December 31 2019.

  • Class 318 dispensation letter

    Dispensation letter – accessibility legislation – Class 318 units

    30/03/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Letter from Department for Transport to Eversholt Rail Group authorising use of Class 318 units beyond December 31 2019.

  • Design standards for accessible railway stations

    Design standards for accessible railway stations

    20/03/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Code of Practice for minimum requirements for disabled adaptations on railway stations.

  • Department for Transport provides further grant funding to support the transportation of freight by rail and water

    09/02/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Department for Transport provides further grant funding to support the transportation of freight by rail and water

  • Consultation: Changes to the Rail Penalty Fares appeals process

    03/02/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Concerns have been raised regarding the threatening tone of penalty fare reminder letters. DfT is aware of some instances where passengers have been threatened with criminal sanctions inappropriately to encourage payment of debt. The non-payment of a penalty fare is not a criminal matter. It is a civil offence and so the threat of criminal prosecution to recover debt is ‘inappropriate and misleading’