The Railways Bill – Will it work?

The Railways Bill is the most important piece of railway legislation since the 1993 Railways Act that brought about the era of privatisation.

The current Railways Bill (and Act) will bring about an era of re-nationalisation. Except it’s more complex than that. Great British Railways will be a massive organisation with substantial reach but it will still have to exist in a world of devolution, third party operators notably railfreight, and two thirds of its money will be spent with the UK rail supply chain, private sector companies.

Whilst there is broad agreement on the need for change, the Bill itself has critics as well as supporters.

So we brought together 5 of the brightest minds in rail policy, finance, law and regulation to ask plenty of challenging questions including most important of all, will it make things better?

It was an enjoyable and lively discussion!