Future of Rail conference
Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP Secretary of State for Transport
[Check Against Delivery]
I would like to begin by saying how pleased I am to be here with you today. This is my first opportunity to take stock of what I believe has been achieved in rail in the last few years and to look forward to the challenges ahead.
May I start by putting on record my appreciation of my predecessor Alistair Darling in this job, and to many of you assembled here today for the way in which you have worked together to improve the nation's railways.
And let me say from the outset that I am looking forward to working with you in a similar partnership in the months ahead.
It is still early days in the job, but already I have seen enough evidence of improvement to be optimistic about the future of rail.
In my second week, I launched in Manchester the first new train of a 51 strong fleet for the Trans Penine Express Franchise - the result of £250m worth of investment.
The new trains will provide extra capacity to a service which has seen passenger numbers grow by more than two million in the last 18 months alone. The service will also help to underpin economic growth in key cities across the North.
And last month I opened the new Western Ticket Hall at Kings Cross St Pancras.
This is part of a package of over £700m of investment to improve tube journeys for two million passengers a day on the Northern Line, as well as create a world class international interchange facility that will also play a major part in getting the millions of visitors to where they need to go during the Olympics.
Now these projects are, of course highly visible and impressive examples of what can be achieved with sustained investment. Alongside this, the industry is investing in of the biggest renewal programmes in Europe. This work is less eye-catching, but nonetheless is critical to the safety and performance of the network.
In the last four years we have created the right framework to set the strategic direction for the future of the industry. And in response, the industry is working in partnership to deliver better services for rail passengers.
I am grateful for the determination of those who work in the industry to sort out the problems of the past.
Your efforts are paying dividends in the terms that matter most to passengers: making the trains run safely and on time. Performance is improving, running at its best level for six years.
Later this week the ORR will confirm that the rail industry has comfortably exceeded the Department's PSA target of 85% trains running on time.
The industry as a whole has recently achieved four consecutive reporting periods in excess of 90% punctuality.
17 of 21 passenger operators have achieved one period of 90% or more during the past year.
What makes this achievement more impressive is that this high level of performance is being delivered on a railway that is carrying one third of a billion more passengers than ten years ago.
And because it has been achieved during a period of considerable change and renewal.
First and foremost, passengers want a service that is reliable. It is vital for the future growth of the industry to maintain and improve punctuality and performance across the network.
We are keen to work with you on this - which is why we are writing performance and reliability into every new franchise specification. We will focus on continuous improvement.
This stability has also given us the opportunity to look at what will be needed in the next 20 - 30 years. To plan, with confidence and to meet the challenges and the opportunities that we will face together in the future.
The first challenge - is to build a transport network that fits together, works effectively and enables us to compete globally in the decades ahead. The work that Rod Eddington is currently undertaking on transport and its impact on productivity will help to inform our thinking on this.
It is also one of the key objectives of the Transport Innovation Fund. Today I announced the first schemes which will be considered for this funding, including a number which have the potential to improve the capability and resilience of our strategic national rail freight distribution network, and may also help to free up capacity for both passengers and freight.
Rail will also continue to be important as we move towards a more service-based economy which values fast, flexible and reliable transport links both within and between regional economic hubs.
Second - planning transport to meet the needs of social change. This will mean managing capacity across the whole transport system - on rail, on the roads and at airports. Within 20-30 years, the UK population is forecast to have increased by nearly 6 million.
The third challenge is perhaps the most important long term challenge we all face. Tackling climate change by reducing carbon emissions as well as offering people more and better sustainable ways to travel. The rail industry must play its part in lowering carbon emissions.
The industry will of course need to respond and adapt to each of these economic, social and environmental challenges, in terms of what they will mean to tomorrows passengers.
And while the Train Operating Companies have a vital role delivering for passengers within a growing railway, It is for Government to set the overall strategic direction - building the framework in which these Train Operating Companies can innovate to deliver what the passengers want.
Government can set the long-term national balance to be sought between growth, the environment and inclusion.
Government can coordinate national agendas on energy, land-use planning and access to services.
Government can connect our intentions for rail with what we are doing on roads to tackle congestion, and to our strategies for the long term future of ports and of aviation.
And it is Government which decides how much taxpayers' money is spent.
The Rail Strategy that we will publish next year will establish our long term plan for the industry.
And this will be underpinned by the High Level Output Specification, which will deliver credible, costed and specific commitments.
Our strategy will look at passenger demand in the long term and set out how we plan to meet this demand. There are many ways to increase capacity. From train layout and length, timetabling efficiency and turnarounds, particularly at mainline stations, to re-examining the benefits of double-decker trains.
We need to consider them all, and we will need to look at the different parts of the network to see what is needed - because what works will vary across the country.
Network Rail will shortly publish their Initial Cost Submission which will bring together - and start to cost - all the work that the Industry has been doing by way of the Route Utilisation Strategy process and elsewhere to look at our potential to respond to demand across the whole network over the next 5-10 years.
Clearly there is a long way to go. The Cost Submission will set out the possibilities. The ORR will need to scrutinise it for efficiency. And through the HLOS, we will translate this into statement of what we actually want to buy. And what we can afford to buy.
Our long term approach will be evident elsewhere. Particularly in the way the Intercity 125's will be replaced.
The new Intercity express programme, which will specify the next generation of high speed trains will also play an important part in expanding capacity.
But it is not a simple matter of buying a new fleet of trains. These trains will last for a generation.
So we will need to consider how they will be maintained, the implications the trains could have for the infrastructure and the track that they use. And also how these trains environmental effects can be minimised, not just during the first few years they are used, but for their whole life.
We are leading on this project in my Department, but we will continue to work closely with the industry and with passengers.
The demands of these passengers are always changing. As new technology develops, customers will enjoy greater power and flexibility in other areas of their daily lives, and will expect to see similar improvements on the railways too.
They will want less complexity and more clarity and choice when they buy their tickets. They will want to be able to purchase one ticket that will carry them on all forms of public transport. They will want better and more accessible travel information.
We are starting to harness technology to respond to customer needs. I went to York a few weeks ago to see how they are developing a new smartcard system for bus travel, making ticketing easier and more convenient for bus passengers.
It's the same system Transport Scotland is introducing with over 800,000 cards for concessionary bus travel.
This system can work on the railways too. I have recently announced our agreement with Transport for London to allow Oyster Cards to be used on national rail services within London. And I have asked that bidders for the new South Western Franchise develop smart ticketing.
These are the first steps towards a seamless, national, smartcard-enabled future.
On the environment, it is true that rail is a relatively green way to get around. Clearly today's trains consume less energy and produce fewer emissions per person than many other forms of transport. But the motoring industry has made great strides over the last 10 years to produce cleaner more fuel efficient vehicles, and rail does not have the automatic right to be the green option.
We need to be constantly working to improve environmental efficiency. And there is a much wider challenge, in relation to noise pollution, disposals of materials, or looking at the whole life impact on a fleet of trains for example.
Together with the Rail Safety and Standards Board we are starting to map out an agenda to look at the whole industry environmental "footprint" for rail. We are also actively supporting industry initiatives on fuel energy and efficiency.
For example, the engines in the InterCity 125 fleet are being renewed with modern diesels which are much quieter, produce hardly any smoke and are 20% more fuel efficient.
As another example ATOC is leading research into the switchover to low sulphur fuel across the network. These measures could all have an impact on reducing emissions in the future
These are just some of the ways in which you as an industry and we in Government are already meeting the challenges of the future. And we can do with confidence having overcome some of the challenges of the past.
In recent years we have replaced over 40% of the trains across the network; built the Channel Tunnel Rail Link; introduced the TPWS safety system; upgraded the south London power supply to improve passenger services across the South East; and introduced a £2 billion programme of much needed maintenance and renewals.
Frankly you'd have to go back a long way before you could point to a similar amount of investment over such a short period of time.
We have moved from railways in decline to railways which are expanding.
From an industry which feared the future to one that embraces its challenges.
From an industry fragmented beyond use, to one which delivers in partnership.
A partnership I am glad to commit myself today.
Delivered: 27 June 2006
(This speech represented existing departmental policy but the words may not have been the same as those used by the Minister.)
