Rail services to come under unified state control
The government has announced the biggest shake-up in the UK's railways since privatisation in the mid-1990s.
It will see the creation of a new state-owned body, Great British Railways (GBR), which will set timetables and prices, sell tickets in England and manage rail infrastructure.
But private operators will still be contracted to run most trains.
And next month, flexible season tickets will be available for some people who commute two or three times a week.
The reforms follow the chaotic introduction of new timetables in May 2018 and years of complaints about the "fragmented" franchising system, which will now be scrapped.
Under the changes, GBR will replace the current operator of infrastructure, Network Rail, but is not expected to be established until 2023.
Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57176858
I have heard it called the Great British Railspin:
https://busandtrainuser.com/2021/05/20/great-british-railspin/ (https://busandtrainuser.com/2021/05/20/great-british-railspin/)
Reading through the White Paper, that is a pretty good assessment of it, considering that most of the things that they are trying to fix are the direct results of government policy over the last 20 years.
Here is the DfT press release:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/great-british-railways-for-the-passenger (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/great-british-railways-for-the-passenger)
and actual report:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987752/gbr-williams-shapps-plan-for-rail.pdf (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987752/gbr-williams-shapps-plan-for-rail.pdf)
Lets hope the implementation actually improves the railways?