RIA launches ‘Rail Enhancements Clock’, showing the days since the Government said it would publish its list of upgrade projects

The Railway Industry Association, the national trade body for the rail supply industry, has launched an ‘Rail Enhancements Clock’ showing the number of days since the Government said it would publish its list of proposed rail upgrade projects.

The ‘Rail Enhancements Clock’

The clock, which is now at a year and 25 days – as at 15 October 2019 – records the time since the Government responded to the Transport Select Committee’s Infrastructure Investment report, committing to publish the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP), the list of rail improvements for the coming five years.

Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Railway Industry Association (RIA), said: “The railway industry has now been waiting more than a year to see what rail enhancement projects the Government has planned for CP6. That is why we launched our SURE campaign – ‘Show Us the Rail Enhancements’ – last month, to draw attention to this lack of enhancements visibility.

“Each day that passes is another day where the industry cannot plan to deliver rail upgrade projects, another day the recommendations of the Transport Select Committee report into investing in the railway goes unheeded, and another day the Cabinet Office’s own guidelines, published just this year, which says that all Government departments should publish their supplier procurement pipelines, are not implemented.

“So we have today launched our ‘Rail Enhancements Clock’ as part of the SURE campaign, to show how long it has been since the DfT committed to full transparency of enhancement projects in each stage of its RNEP, and to transparent policy making generally. We can only continue to urge that forward enhancements pipeline projects under consideration be published as soon as possible, safeguarding railway industry jobs, investment, and the health of the rail sector more widely.”

1. The Rail Enhancements Clock can be found here, along with details of the ‘Show Us the Rail Enhancements’ (SURE) campaign.
2. Recommendation 9 of the Transport Select Committee’s Rail Infrastructure Investment Report said the Government should “commit to full transparency of enhancement projects in each stage of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline;”. The Government responded that it “accepts this recommendation. We are committed to transparent policy making and intend to make clear public statements as we take investment decisions on enhancements at each stage of the pipeline. This means that there will be a clear picture of the schemes that are progressing and the benefits that Government is seeking. In addition, Network Rail will continue to provide updates on the progress of enhancements already in the portfolio, through the publication of the Enhancements Delivery Plan.” Find the Government’s response here.
3. The Government’s Outsourcing Playbook, published in February 2019, says that there is now a “new expectation that all central government departments will publish their commercial pipelines” and that these changes “will help suppliers to understand the government’s long-term demand for services and prepare themselves to respond to contract opportunities”. The Playbook can be found here.
4. About RIA: The Railway Industry Association (RIA) is the voice of the UK rail supply community. We help to grow a sustainable, high-performing, railway supply industry, and to export UK rail expertise and products. We promote and represent our members’ interests to policy makers, clients and other stakeholders in the UK and overseas. RIA has 290+ companies in membership in a sector that contributes £36 billion in economic growth and £11 billion in tax revenue each year, as well as employing 600,000 people—more than the workforce of Birmingham. It is also a growing industry with the number of rail journeys expected to double over the next 25 years and freight set to grow significantly too. RIA’s membership is active across the whole of railway supply, covering a diverse range of products and services and including both multi-national companies and SMEs (60% by number). RIA works to promote the importance of the rail system to UK plc, to help export UK expertise around the globe and to share best practice and innovation across the industry. www.riagb.org.uk