Proposal to privatise Network Rail dismissed

The proposal to privatise Network Rail has been disregarded in the latest review by Nicola Shaw, which looked into the future of the sector.

The report said it had ‘dismissed privatisation of the whole company, and instead has focused on solutions that may be appropriate for certain parts of Network Rail as well as for specific enhancement projects.’

Instead it recommended that there were options for private investment, including allowing private firms to run part of the rail network for a fixed period of time.

The report also called for ‘route devolution’ which would give parts of the rail network greater power. It recommended that Routes (eight regions of Britain’s railways) should be ‘required and empowered to find local businesses or housing developers who stand to benefit from new or additional rail capacity’.

However, Manuel Cortes, of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, claimed the review would not stop National Rail plans to ‘flog off station concourses, land or even its strategic electric grid.’

In the 2016 Budget document, the government said it ‘welcomed the recommendations of the Shaw Report, and will respond in full later this year.”