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The renamed Williams-Shapps plan for rail white paper (Report, May 21) is an interesting insight into how government perceives both the rail industry and the franchise system.
The latter was introduced to improve competition and efficiency by allowing outsiders to bid for government contracts — this has been shown to be highly flawed. Among the flaws is the practice of over-optimistic bidding — where bids have the appearance of offering value for money — which can result in a poor-quality service.
We should therefore welcome the arrival of Great British Railways as it will set most fares, which will have an impact on the profit-driven model of franchise bidding. As was promised with the privatisation of British Rail 25 years ago, the white paper says the proposed changes will improve punctuality and efficiency. We have heard this before.
My research over the past few years has focused on perceptions of efficiency in the rail industry and I have interviewed train drivers, driver managers, customer managers and directors. Initial findings reveal a much more complex story than the narratives outlined in the white paper.
For example, the UK rail infrastructure will prove to be a challenge for reliability and punctuality for decades to come as many disruptions are unavoidable. All it takes is a leaf on the track, human error, a passenger trespassing, a faulty piece of Victorian infrastructure or a five-minute delay for there to be a negative domino effect throughout our rail lines.
Maybe it’s time we stop fetishising efficiency, in favour of a safer,more people-focused railway.
Daniel Fisher
PhD Research Student, The Business
School ( formerly Cass), City
University of London, London EC1, UK
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