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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].

 

  • Infrastructure and Projects Authority annual report 2022

    20/07/2022
    Infrastructure and Projects Authority SearchResearchItems

    Delivery of later phases of the flagship East West Rail scheme, to restore a direct ‘Varsity Line’ rail link between Oxford and Cambridge, has been declared “unachievable” by this key government body. In its annual report on the Government’s major schemes portfolio for 2021-22, the IPA provides a health rating to some 235 projects (ranging from rail and road to hospitals, housing and defence), with a total life cost of £678 billion. Although Phase 1 of EWR to rebuild a disused rail corridor between Bicester and Bletchley by 2024 is already under construction, Phases 2 (Bletchley-Bedford) and 3 (Bedford-Cambridge), which remain in the design stage, have now been given red ratings. It represents a second major blow for the project in less than a month, after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps revealed on July 11 that both phases could soon be scrapped to save some £3.5bn. In its response to the IPA report, EWR confirmed that the project was “under review”.

  • Transforming Infrastructure Performance

    06/12/2017
    Infrastructure and Projects Authority SearchResearchItems

    This is described as the government’s plan “to increase the effectiveness of investment in infrastructure”. It says it will “encourage promoters to consider how to integrate projects and programmes across traditional sector boundaries, exploit the opportunities made possible by using new technologies and ensure that the outcomes provide maximum benefit against the expenditure incurred.” The paper lists three strategic challenges as vital to improving infrastructure delivery and performance: prioritising investment in the right projects; improving productivity in delivery; and maximising the overall benefits of infrastructure investment.