Policy paper

Great British Railways: Williams-Shapps plan for rail

The government鈥檚 plan to transform the railways in Great Britain.

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

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Details

This white paper sets out our plan for a revolution on the railways in Great Britain. It is based on the shared vision of Keith Williams, the independent Chair of the Rail Review, and the Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, to put rail on the right track to support the levelling up of our towns, cities and regions.

It shows how the government will make railways the backbone of a cleaner, more environmentally friendly and modern public transport system across the country.

By replacing franchising, accelerating innovation and integrating the railways, we will deliver an efficient, financially sustainable railway that meets the needs of passengers and those who rely on rail on a daily basis.

Update on centralised Great British Railways online rail ticket retailer: December 2023

As set out in the white paper, we are committed to improving passenger experience on the railways.

The private sector plays an important role in driving innovation and attracting more customers to the railway. As stated in the Bradshaw Address, we are focused on opening up聽railway data and systems, lowering barriers to entry for independent rail聽ticket聽retailers to improve passenger experience. We are confirming that we are not pursuing plans to deliver a centralised Great British Railways聽online聽rail聽ticket聽retailer.

Train operators will continue to聽retail聽to passengers聽online聽alongside existing third-party聽retailers while we develop measures to spur further competition in the聽online聽rail聽ticket聽retail聽market to make things better for passengers.

Updates to this page

Published 20 May 2021
Last updated 14 December 2023 show all updates
  1. Updated to reflect that government is no longer pursuing plans to deliver a centralised Great British Railways online rail ticket retailer.

  2. First published.

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