Committee publication · Correspondence · 12 November 2025 · HC 1472
Letter from the Secretary of State for Transport relating to the introduction of the Railways Bill, dated 5 November 2025
From: Transport Committee
Inquiry: Railways Bill
Summary
The Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander writes to Transport Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury to inform her that the Railways Bill was introduced to the Commons on 5 November 2025. The Bill establishes Great British Railways (GBR), a unified body consolidating 17 separate organisations, and introduces a Passenger Watchdog with consumer protection powers. The government positions the Bill as addressing fragmentation, poor accountability, and complex ticketing in the current rail system, and commits to an accessibility roadmap and freight growth targets.
Key findings
- The Bill establishes Great British Railways (GBR) to unify track and train operations, consolidating 17 separate bodies and removing duplicative bureaucracy.
- A new Passenger Watchdog will set consumer standards, investigate poor service, provide an independent ombudsman, and have specific duties toward disabled passengers.
- GBR will control fare-setting and ticketing, consolidating 14 train company systems into a single app and website to simplify purchasing and increase fare transparency.
- GBR will make track access decisions based on 'fair assessment of genuine best use', replacing the current fragmented system operated by Network Rail and the Office for Rail and Road.
- The government has published a separate Accessibility Roadmap as a transitional plan for immediate rail accessibility improvements pending GBR establishment, and commits to statutory freight growth targets.
Tone
SupportiveTopics
Key actors
Heidi Alexander, Ruth Cadbury, Lord Hendy, Great British Railways, Office for Rail and Road, Passenger Watchdog, Department for Transport
Notable line
“… our railways are a mess. Passengers feel abandoned – forced to accept delays, cancellations, and poor value for money as an unavoidable fact of daily life.”
Key Quotes
“This government is committed to building a railway fit for Britain's future – a simpler, more unified railway that delivers reliable, safe, and better value journeys for those who rely on it.”
“… our railways are a mess. Passengers feel abandoned – forced to accept delays, cancellations, and poor value for money as an unavoidable fact of daily life.”
“The Railways Bill will fix those problems. It establishes Great British Railways (GBR) – bringing together the work of 17 different bodies, cutting out bureaucracy and duplication, and unifying track and train under a single organisation designed to work for passengers, freight, and the taxpayer.”
“GBR taking access decisions is the only way to improve network performance, reduce delays and disruption, and review routes holistically to decide where communities could be better served by the railway.”
“… we need an affordable, reliable railway that passengers can count on and that makes the most of every taxpayer pound invested.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗