{"id":67179,"date":"2016-02-02T15:23:13","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T15:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=117eda87a7082c73f91024c18c8bcbd0"},"modified":"2016-02-02T15:23:13","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T15:23:13","slug":"speech-leading-change-in-the-rail-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=67179","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Leading change in the rail industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Opening remarks<\/h2>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n

And good afternoon everyone.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a pleasure to be here – and to have this opportunity to address an expert rail audience.<\/p>\n

20 years ago this Thursday, the 05.10 early morning service pulled out of Twickenham station on its way to London Waterloo.<\/p>\n

As far as train journeys go, it was unremarkable.<\/p>\n

But it was in fact a landmark in the history of the British railway.<\/p>\n

The first scheduled service run by a private operator in this country for almost half a century.<\/p>\n

Looking back, not even the most fervant advocates of privatisation could have predicted its impact on the railway.<\/p>\n

20 years in which passengers have doubled.<\/p>\n

Investment\u2019s increased.<\/p>\n

Costs come down.<\/p>\n

And in which standards have improved to such a degree that we now have the safest railway in Europe.<\/p>\n

Something we never take for granted.<\/p>\n

And something we always have to guard and watch.<\/p>\n

Continued progress<\/h2>\n

But as you\u2019ve heard this morning, things are going to change even faster over the next 20 years.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re only at the start of a unprecedented construction and modernisation programme, which will make Britain the leading rail investor in the western world.<\/p>\n

Who would have thought that a few decades ago.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s in this Parliament when we really get cracking with that programme.<\/p>\n

Finishing Crossrail.<\/p>\n

Starting HS2.<\/p>\n

Completing Northern Hub.<\/p>\n

Getting rid of old train like Pacers.<\/p>\n

And introducing new ones \u2013 like Intercity Express on the Great Western and East Coast lines.<\/p>\n

All evidence of how we\u2019re investing to transform journeys for passengers.<\/p>\n

But building a better railway is not just about investment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also about changing poor public perceptions.<\/p>\n

Being more transparent.<\/p>\n

And treating passengers as valued customers, like the very best service providers do.<\/p>\n

The challenge is to create a culture that\u2019s relentlessly focused on the customer.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also about controlling costs more effectively.<\/p>\n

Delivering more for less.<\/p>\n

Like industries across the economy were forced to do in one of the longest and deepest recessions in our history.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s about joined up thinking.<\/p>\n

The railway coming together.<\/p>\n

Speeding up and improving long term planning.<\/p>\n

Setting clear objectives.<\/p>\n

And being accountable for achieving them.<\/p>\n

The industry is at a stage in its evolution where there are huge opportunities to do all these things.<\/p>\n

But it needs better leadership and direction.<\/p>\n

And the Rail Delivery Group<\/a> is absolutely fundamental to that process.<\/p>\n

The Shaw Report<\/a> may provide some answers.<\/p>\n

But we need to face up to the fact that there may still be challenges ahead.<\/p>\n

And we need to be ready to meet them.<\/p>\n

Learning lessons<\/h2>\n

Some of these issues came to a head last year.<\/p>\n

For example when we had to pause the electrification of the Midland Main Line and Transpennine.<\/p>\n

But then we worked together, with particular credit going to Sir Peter Hendy and his team, to get Network Rail\u2019s infrastructure programme up and running again.<\/p>\n

Delivery of that full programme on time and on budget is crucially important.<\/p>\n

Not just for rail users.<\/p>\n

But for the industry itself.<\/p>\n

This is about making the railway more professional and answerable. <\/p>\n

If challenges crop up, then the industry must confront and tackle them.<\/p>\n

My first job as Secretary of State was to sort out the West Coast franchise mess.<\/p>\n

The first step was to accept responsibility on behalf of the department.<\/p>\n

The next was to take swift action.<\/p>\n

And 3 years on, franchising is in a much better place.<\/p>\n

In fact it\u2019s at the heart of improving our railway.<\/p>\n

So the key objective now for us all I hope is to learn lessons, and make the railway more resilient. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019re looking at regulation and structure.<\/p>\n

Network Rail has a capability plan, which reflects the changes made to the enhancement programme.<\/p>\n

And which will take into account feedback from Colette Bowe\u2019s review<\/a>, and the ORR<\/abbr><\/a>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re currently consulting on that.<\/p>\n

And in the light of the Bowe Review, it\u2019s also a timely chance to consider the duties of the ORR<\/abbr> again, to make sure they\u2019re appropriate for regulating Network Rail \u2013 so improvements can be made reliably.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll consult with the industry again on options for structural change after the Shaw Report is published.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019ll provide clarity on our plans as early as possible.<\/p>\n

Supply chain and skills<\/h2>\n

Improving resilience takes many forms. But there are 2 I\u2019d like to highlight today (2 February 2016), which I believe are immensely important to Network Rail\u2019s programme, and in which the Rail Delivery Group has a direct interest.<\/p>\n

First, the supply chain.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I attended the launch of the Rail Supply Group\u2019s sector strategy<\/a>, the first agreed plan for how the supply chain will grow as we modernise the railway.<\/p>\n

I know the RDG<\/abbr> has excellent links now with the Rail Supply Group and the wider supply chain.<\/p>\n

And that relationship is going to get stronger as we progress.<\/p>\n

Second, the skills challenge.<\/p>\n

Training the workforce is the single biggest construction and engineering challenge of this age, with huge implications for the railway.<\/p>\n

We need a new generation of rail engineers, designers and construction professionals.<\/p>\n

And highly skilled people to operate the networks once they\u2019re open.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why last week we announced our transport skills strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Led by Terry Morgan, chairman of Crossrail, the strategy sets out how we\u2019ll provide 30,000 apprenticeships in roads and rail up to 2020, and I hope leave a legacy of skills for the next generation.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also investing in new training centres like the National Training Academy for Rail and the National College for High Speed Rail as well.<\/p>\n

And in 2018, to coincide with the finishing of Crossrail, we\u2019re going to have a period of celebrating engineering, to excite a new generation of brilliant minds.<\/p>\n

Franchises and ticketing<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve spoken mainly about the big rail issues today.<\/p>\n

But we must also keep focused on the things that matter most to passengers in their daily journeys.<\/p>\n

And one of the areas where\u2019s there\u2019s massive potential for improvement is ticketing.<\/p>\n

Frankly, the process is still impossible to fathom out.<\/p>\n

The railway is still light years behind other industries on this issue.<\/p>\n

Though some good progress has been made.<\/p>\n

For example on smart ticketing through the South East Flexible Ticketing programme.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s important is that we\u2019ve now reached a point where future development can be led by the private sector.<\/p>\n

Now we need to see more operators coming together.<\/p>\n

Getting different IT systems to talk to each other.<\/p>\n

Providing a seamless travel experience across boundaries.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we made smart ticketing an integral part of franchise competitions.<\/p>\n

So we can expect to see some exciting proposals from bidders in the months and years ahead – starting with the competition for Southwestern and the West Midlands in the spring.<\/p>\n

We cannot claim to have truly modernised our railway if we don\u2019t also transform ticketing.<\/p>\n

And I know that\u2019s something the Rail Delivery Group is working on.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

So to sum up.<\/p>\n

Two decades since the railway entered a new era of enterprise and competition – yet also 2 decades in which rising demand has tested the capacity and resources of the industry like never before \u2013 we are now in a position to complete the job of modernising the railway.<\/p>\n

For an industry that was in decline for so long, our objective is to make Britain\u2019s railway the equal of any in the world.<\/p>\n

It will take several Parliaments to achieve.<\/p>\n

But it will be this Parliament.<\/p>\n

And this period of opportunity.<\/p>\n

When the future course of the railway is irreversibly set.<\/p>\n

So now is the time to show the industry is changing.<\/p>\n

Controlling costs.<\/p>\n

Putting customers first.<\/p>\n

Conquering problems every day. <\/p>\n

Uniting as one industry, but serving the public in different areas.<\/p>\n

In partnership with government. Inspired by the leadership of the Rail Delivery Group.<\/p>\n

Grasping the opportunity together.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Transport Secretary\u2019s speech at the 2016 annual conference of the Rail Delivery Group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67179"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67179\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}