New trains could be owned directly by the public sector under Great British Railways (GBR), under plans announced by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.
Alexander made the announcement at the Labour Party Conference on Monday 28 September, as the Department for Transport (DfT) published details of a Rolling Stock and Infrastructure Strategy.
Leasing would no longer be the default
GBR will assess “whether direct public ownership, leasing or other financing arrangements offer the best value for taxpayers and fare payers”, according to the strategy.
The DfT said GBR would take a case-by-case approach when procuring new trains. Existing leasing contracts would remain in place, but leasing would no longer be treated as the default option for future fleets.
The department said leasing and maintenance costs for trains amount to more than £4bn a year for taxpayers and passengers. It also cited Office of Rail and Road figures showing that rolling stock companies paid more than £2.5bn in dividends over the past decade.
The government said buying trains outright could deliver substantial savings in some circumstances.
Supply chain and fleet plans
The strategy is intended to provide greater certainty for the UK rail supply chain through a clearer, longer-term pipeline of investment in rolling stock and infrastructure. GBR will also prioritise social benefits in contracts, including skills and employment opportunities for the UK workforce.
The DfT said planning fleets, infrastructure and maintenance together could improve reliability. Future trains are also expected to include improved passenger information systems and more consistent digital connectivity.
Plans for “fleet families” would introduce more standardised designs across train types, with the aim of making trains more consistent and accessible and allowing them to be used more flexibly across the network.
GBR would progressively replace diesel trains with cleaner technologies, including battery-powered trains, alongside the continuing electrification programme.
The announcement follows news that Alstom has received a £1bn investment for a new fleet of UK-made battery-powered GBR trains for the Transpennine Route Upgrade. The project is expected to secure hundreds of jobs in Derby and thousands more across the wider supply chain.
Unions welcome proposal
Rail unions ASLEF and TSSA welcomed the possibility of publicly owned future trains. TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust described the move as “a step in the right direction.”