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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 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”.

  • Reinventing Rail in Europe: The Battle for the Customer

    07/09/2016
    Amadeus IT Group SearchResearchItems

    This paper from Amadeus contends that customer focus needs to come from the top, and that breaking down “silos” and creating a “collective mission” are key in the fight for the customer. Those arguments are contained in a report that considers the effects of the regulatory changes that have opened up the railways to competition - with more on the way through the forthcoming EU fourth railway package. As competition increases, the report argues, one result is a greater focus on the customer. Among other things, it considers the role of technology, and of the engineering and cultural challenges in bringing about major change.

  • Network Fail: Getting UK rail back on track

    01/09/2016
    Nigel Hawkins/Adam Smith Institute SearchResearchItems

    This paper from the Adam Smith Institute argues for wide-ranging changes to the railway structure, including that High Speed 2 should be cancelled and Network Rail “should be progressively sold down.” It calls for the initial sale of 49.9% of the infrastructure owner. In addition, the paper contends “some smaller lines could be progressively divested by Network Rail as part of a local transportation policy”. HS2, it argues, “should be scrapped on grounds of excessive cost” and instead a “far less grandiose” approach should deal with overcrowding on the southern West Coast Main Line. On train operating, the paper says franchising should be kept - but that the Department for Transport and Office of Rail and Road “should crack down hard on under-performing rail franchise holders”. The paper also calls for continued investment in northern England.

  • Northern Freight Logistics Report

    01/09/2016
    Transport for the North SearchResearchItems

    Ambitions in this report include achieving “additional rail capacity along both North-South and East-West axes” and that TfN and other stakeholders “play an active role” to ensure capacity released by the construction of HS2 id made available for freight. Among specific proposed steps are the provision of longer loops to allow 750m trains to run on intermodal routes; the securing of additional capacity on the West Coast Main Line and trans-Pennine; creating extra capacity on the East Coast and Midland main lines; and reopening or upgrading of lines to give greater capacity.

  • Market for Rail Services 2016, Passenger Transport Intelligence Services

    22/08/2016
    Passenger Transport Intelligence Services SearchResearchItems

    On many regional lines, the economics “are so poor that providing extra capacity simply increases the need for operating subsidies at a time when public funds will still be in short supply” argues Market for Rail Services 2016. That is one of the problems listed in the conclusions of this paper, which acknowledges the “undoubted success” of rail’s market growth since privatisation. However, it also argues that analysis of patronage growth “suggests that it largely rests on outside factors such as population growth, the performance of the economy and particularly the growth in the jobs market.” Market for Rail Services 2016 lists two other problems for regional networks in its conclusions: the need for large operating subsidies, and revenue yields “up to a third lower than in London and the south east”. This report is available to purchase for £10.83 from Passenger Transport Intelligence Services website

  • Sheffield and South Yorkshire Report

    07/07/2016
    HS2 Ltd SearchResearchItems

    HS2 Ltd proposes that rather than building a stop at Meadowhall or serving either Midland or the currently disused Victoria stations, Sheffield should be served by ‘classic compatible’ trains. These could also potentially call at Chesterfield. Such an option could be combined with realigning HS2’s proposed Eastern Leg further to the east - saving around £1bn. A Parkway station alongside the M18 could also be considered. A variety of reasons led to HS2 Ltd’s recommendation to the Secretary of State for Transport - with chairman David Higgins saying conflicting perspectives meant the choice of location “has proved one of the most difficult we have faced.”

  • Network Rail Monitor Quarters 3-4 of Year 2 of CP5 18 October 2015 to 31 March 2016

    05/07/2016
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    The Office of Rail and Road presents a mixed picture of Network Rail’s performance in the period measured - a particular positive being the zero industry-caused deaths of passengers or workforce on its infrastructure. The regulator describes this as a “notable achievement”. However, it also notes a variation in levels of management maturity. Train service performance “has not returned to targeted levels”, and the ORR judges that NR also underperformed against its budget on renewals and enhancements. Asset performance continued to improve, however, and the ORR says the company is “taking reasonable steps to remedy the causes” of the problems with enhancements that led to the decision on it having breached its licence last October.

  • Network Rail Monitor Scotland Quarters 3-4 of Year 2 of CP5 18 October 2015 to 31 March 2016

    05/07/2016
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    The Office of Rail and Road rated the ‘change management arrangements’ for the merger of Network Rail’s Scotland Route with Abellio ScotRail as “excellent” - and said this is the only case of that judgment this year. Asset performance, it said, “continued to improve”. Other aspects of the regulator’s evaluation of NR’s performance in Scotland were less positive - it judged that the infrastructure owner would have missed train service performance targets even without such factors as the closure of the Forth Road Bridge. It also calculated that NR underperformed against its own budgets on renewals and enhancements.

  • ORR’s Annual Health and Safety Report of Performance on Britain’s Railways: 2015-16

    01/07/2016
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    With no workforce fatalities for the first time ever, the Office of Rail and Road says the railways “are currently the safest they’ve ever been” but cautions that there “is still room for improvement”. The ORR’s annual safety report notes that this was the ninth year in a row without any train accident deaths. It also cites improvements in management of risk at level crossings - more than 1,000 of which have now been closed since 2009/2010. However, the regulator identifies further challenges - of “managing growth and change”, “developing, maintaining and renewing a safe and sustainable infrastructure”, “translating strategic intent into practical delivery on the ground”, and it says “there remains more for the industry to do to improve the sector’s management of occupational health”.

  • Annual Safety Performance Report: A reference guide to safety trends on GB railways

    01/07/2016
    Rail Safety Standards Board SearchResearchItems

    Nobody died in train accidents in 2015/2016 - and there were no workforce fatalities for the first time. However, there were 45 “accidental fatalities”, eight of which were passengers, with the other 37 members of the public. Of those, 30 were trespassers. Also, the rate of ‘passenger harm’ increased, even when normalised for increasing passenger journeys. Harm to the workforce and members of the public fell, however. The RSSB reports that the year “saw improvements in many of the main measures”. However it also states that “clear challenges” exist “such as managing risk at the platform edge, and managing assaults on trains and in stations.”

  • Northern Transport strategy: One Agenda, One Economy, One North Transport for the North

    30/06/2016
    Transport for the North SearchResearchItems

    Transport improvements are seen as one way to close the 25% gap between the North of England’s GVA per capita and the rest of England. “Better transport connectivity can help to promote a higher employment rate, by improving access to centres of employment, and it can help to promote higher productivity, by improving the attractiveness of an area for investment, improving access to markets, increasing the pool of workers available to work in higher productivity urban locations, and increasing the effective scale of cities and the associated benefits of agglomeration.” Although arguing for new roads, TfN also calls for “frequent rail services (including cross-city operations”, investments in other modes, and multi-modal ticketing.

  • Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review

    24/06/2016
    Transport for the North SearchResearchItems

    Being “fragmented by poor transport links” is one of the things holding the North back, according to this report. A “transformational scenario” could see productivity climb 4% (it is currently 25% behind the England average) and hundreds of thousands of new jobs created - but doing it “would be dependent on a step change in investment in transport, alongside other factors including skills and innovation.” So argues the Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review, which sees the North’s four main capabilities as being in the sectors of advanced manufacturing, energy, health innovation and digital. Among rail changes mooted are improving links “city-centre to city-centre… east-west and north-south.”

  • Privatising Network Rail: A £10 billion ticket to disaster

    01/06/2016
    We Own It Transport for Quality of Life SearchResearchItems

    Rather than selling off Network Rail assets, this paper suggests taxes, cutting waste and better accountability as ways to tackle funding problems. It argues that while the infrastructure owner “could improve its cash flow in the short term through selling its assets, it will lose permanent long-term income.” Among other recommendations, the paper calls for “a moratorium on the sale of Network Rail assets.”

  • Rail as a key to decarbonising transport

    01/06/2016
    UNIFE SearchResearchItems

    Electrification, enshrining carbon reduction in legislation and promoting rail “as backbone of sustainable mobility” are all among recommendations in this paper from the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies and UNIFE, which represents the rail industry in Brussels. The report recommends “an additional binding target for 2030” for greenhouse gases in addition to the 60% by 2050 (over 1990 levels) already formulated in a European Commission 2011 white paper.

  • Rail Industry Performance

    01/06/2016
    TAS Publications & Events Ltd SearchResearchItems

    Rail wages and salaries have, since 2005, “risen by 15.5% in real terms, compared with 11% in the wider transport industry and a fall of 9% in the economy as a whole”, TAS reports. Adjusted for inflation, pension contributions costs have climbed by “almost 70%” over the same period. Train operating company operating margins of 2.5% “remain low compared with pre-recession levels”, it reports.

  • Blueprint for a Great North Plan

    01/06/2016
    IPPR North SearchResearchItems

    Although this is “not the Great North Plan itself”, this blueprint lays out ideas and ground rules of what the authors think it should include. It suggests the main ‘purposes’ of the plan should be set out as a vision for the north; a set of collaborative strategies; a prospectus for investment; and a programme for action. The paper suggests a variety of work streams, which should then feed into a “prospectus for the North.”

  • Measuring Up - Annual Rail Consumer Report 2016

    01/06/2016
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    The first of the ORR’s reports on this topic that covers the regulator’s consumer side, this aims to “increase transparency, demonstrate good practice and highlight areas for improvement.” Dubbed an interim report, the 123-page paper breaks its findings into those on train operators and those covering Network Rail. The TOC section is produced to a common template and covers the handling of complaints, access and assistance, information during disruption, and making the experience of ticket machines better.

  • HS2 Guide for Farmers and Growers

    31/05/2016
    HS2 Ltd SearchResearchItems

    Creation of High Speed 2 will inevitably mean acquisition of land along the route and this guide is intended “to explain to farmers the policies currently proposed by HS2 Ltd on agricultural property matters.” To be updated through the life of the project, the paper gives details of topics including compensation, and procedures surrounding both temporary occupation of land and permanent acquisition - whether through compulsory purchase or farmers’ requests.

  • 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.

  • Rail Accident Investigation Branch Annual Report 2015

    23/05/2016
    Rail Accident Investigation Branch SearchResearchItems

    Some 97% of RAIB recommendations made in the time between 2011 and 2015 have either been implemented or are in the process of being so, the accident investigator reports. It lists “important areas of learning” in 2015 that include track worker safety, track quality, the platform train interface and level crossings. The report also raises a concern about the “number of events where luck has prevented an accident involving multiple fatalities.”

  • Passenger perceptions of personal security on the railways

    01/05/2016
    Transport Focus SearchResearchItems

    The latest version of a paper that first appeared in 2009 reports that people feel more secure on the railway than they have done in the past. The autumn 2015 National Rail Passenger Survey showed that satisfaction with personal security on the train was running at 79% (up from 75% in Spring 2010), while the equivalent measure while using stations was 73% (up from 65%). Satisfaction with the availability of staff on stations is also up; only the measure for the availability of staff on the train is down - from 46% to 44%. Key findings of the report include that time-limited alcohol bans can be effective and that monitored CCTV and help points should be fitted on stations without staff.

  • Building the Northern Powerhouse: Next steps for transformation

    25/04/2016
    UK Northern Powerhouse Ltd SearchResearchItems

    Transport for the North “must take over responsibility for the rail network in the North” this report argues, “to ensure promised investment is delivered at the earliest opportunity, integration with HS2 is achieved and capacity for passengers and freight is optimised.” The recommendation is part of a wide-ranging report on the planned ‘Northern Powerhouse’, which also argues that transport improvements “must be balanced with a corresponding commitment to technical infrastructure including improved broadband connectivity.”

  • The Shaw Report: The future shape and financing of Network Rail

    16/03/2016
    Nicola Shaw SearchResearchItems

    Routes could be let on concessions or time-led licences under plans unveiled by High Speed 1 Chief Executive Nicola Shaw in this report. These could last between 20 and 30 years, and could come into effect from the start of the next Control Period in 2019. They are designed to attract finance from outside the industry that can be used for enhancements. The proposals will be the subject of public testing prior to implementation. No radical proposals, Shaw recommends more devolution but does not support privatisation.

  • Transport for a world city

    10/03/2016
    National Infrastructure Commission SearchResearchItems

    With London on the way to becoming a ‘megacity’ of ten million people by 2030, the National Infrastructure Commission argues that Crossrail 2 should be “taken forward as a priority”. The north east to south west route would involve 24 miles of tunnel between Tottenham Hale/New Southgate and Wimbledon, and relieve the South West London commuter routes and stations, as well as the Underground network. By reaching 10m, London’s population will have grown to 2.4m more than now (it rose over 10% between 2008 and 2015); the commuter region is also expected to grow by a million to 9.9m and jobs by 800,000. Schemes already planned will add around 30% to rail capacity compared with 2011, but that capacity is predicted to be taken by the 2020s and the NIC outlines a situation of crush crowding and station closures. The NIC recommends moving to a hybrid bill in 2019, to allow opening of Crossrail 2 in 2033.

  • Competition in passenger rail services in Great Britain

    08/03/2016
    Competition and Markets Authority SearchResearchItems

    In this major report - which follows an interim paper last July - the Competition and Markets Authority argues for giving a greater role to open access operators on inter-city routes. The CMA concludes that increasing competition could bring benefits including lower fares/passenger growth, efficiency, and incentives to improve service quality. Recommendations include lowering levels of specification in franchise contracts, reforming access charges, incentivising Network Rail to “manage traffic and capacity more efficiently” and encouraging smart ticketing.