Whitehall watchdog warns over ‘limited progress’ in rail reforms
The National Audit Office found the Department for Transport has made ‘limited progress’ on rail transformation plans published in 2021.
Most Government work to overhaul Britain’s railways is delayed, according to a damning report by Whitehall’s spending watchdog.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has made “limited progress” on rail transformation plans published in 2021, with the majority of changes and expected savings not expected to happen until “at least the next Parliament”, the National Audit Office (NAO) found.
None of 12 “high-level benefits” the DfT aims to achieve with rail reforms were rated green – meaning they are on track – in December 2023.
The department had intended by early 2024 to have set up Great British Railways – a public sector body to oversee the network – as well as establish a new operating model and introduce new passenger service contracts, the NAO said.
But these and most other measures in the May 2021 rail reform White Paper “remain work in progress”, according to the report.
