This paper provides an overview of the current rail system, including how it is delivered and how it performed and was financed up until the spring of 2020 when the UK locked down in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. It explains the impact of the pandemic on services and funding and sets out reforms to rail passenger services (franchises) as a result of the pandemic. The final section discusses the Williams Rail Review, initiated in 2018 and yet to report publicly, setting out the emerging conclusions and key questions to be answered.
Documents to download
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Railway: accidents (96 KB, PDF)
This note outlines the statutory framework for investigating accidents on the railway and provides information on five of the most serious accidents in the past fifteen years.
After every accident there is an accident report published, usually compiled by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB). In the case of more serious accidents there is also often a public inquiry. Many of the safety improvements to the railway have come about following recommendations from public inquiries that followed serious accidents. It has proven very difficult for rail companies, including Railtrack/Network Rail, to be prosecuted for serious accidents. Where Network Rail has been found liable for accidents it is usually fined and there is an ongoing debate about the fact that public money, or money that might otherwise be invested in the railway, is used to pay these fines.
Documents to download
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Railway: accidents (96 KB, PDF)
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This note looks at the development of the Railways Pension Scheme set up in 1994 following the privatisation of British Rail
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This Commons Library briefing paper outlines the measures introduced by the Government, and other authorities, to support household finances during the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
