Great British Cuts

UK Railway Finance

It is instructive to see that the newly appointed chairman of Great British Railways, Sir John Kingman, is a former Treasury mandarin. This does not bode well for railway support. This is a clear signal that the government sees the railways as too expensive and ripe for cuts in financial support. Sir John is sharpening his axe as we speak.

Few of the passengers who ride the trains every day think about how much the government has to spend on keeping the railways going. All they think about is the cost of the fare. They think that fares are too expensive and that they'd be better off using the car. However, despite the cost of fares, every year the British government spends about £12 billion on keeping the UK Railway system going. This is more than half of the total railway income of £25.9 billion.

Right: A UK railway finance chart as provided by the British government showing the totals of expenditure for the period of 2024 to 2025, the latest figures available. Information from UK Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

 

Cuts

Of course, the railways haven't helped themselves. Network Rail, the UK railway infrastructure manager, didn't manage to spend all the money that they've been provided by the government in the last financial 'control' period. They under spent it by 12%. They are also veery big, very slow and very expensive. They are generally just like any other government department. 

I was once told that any time you ask anyone in Network Rail a question, the first answer is always 'No'. That needs to change. Management needs to be sharper, leaner and more responsive. Contractor management night be the first place to look, Sir John.

The Future

Whatever this government decides to do in the short term, what the railway really needs is a long-term cross party approach. Railway assets invariably last from 20 to 60 years so their management and renewal programmes needs to match this. The only way to do this is to have a long-term plan for renewals, replacements and upgrades. The plan needs to be agreed by all the government parties and it should be stitched into the UK's railway financing plans for at least a 40 year period. This would require a huge change in attitude but it really is essential to replace the existing feast and famine process that makes the railway so expensive.