Letter from Graham Smith, Director-General,
Rail Delivery Group. Response to Rail 2020, Seventh Report of
Session 2012-13
This is the response of the Rail Delivery Group to
the Rail 2020 report of the Committee and to your letter of 18
March 2013 to the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). In the letter you
asked for the Group's comments on two of the recommendations made
by the Committee in its seventh report on Rail 2020. You also
asked for any comments that the RDG may have on the Rail 2020
report.
The RDG brings together the owners of Britain's passenger
Train Operating Companies, Freight Operating Companies and Network
Rail to provide leadership to Britain's rail industry. The RDG
welcomes the support of the Transport Committee for the work of
the Group and the comment that:
'The Rail Delivery Group is expected to play a
crucial role in achieving more effective cross-industry co-operation
and delivering the savings identified by McNulty'.
This comment echoes the DfT's 2012 Command Paper,
which called on the RDG to lead the rail industry in working together
to deliver a more efficient and more affordable railway. The formalisation
of the RDG in February 2013 has strengthened that remit and ensures
that the most senior people in the rail industry are focused on
achieving the Group's objectives of setting the policies and strategies
for a growing railway.
- The priorities being pursued by the RDG are:
- Providing leadership to Britain's
rail industry;
- Being the collective voice of the rail industry;
- Developing policies, strategies and plans for
the coherent management of the rail industry and advancing the
provision of a safe, efficient, high quality rail service for
users and taxpayers;
- Identifying opportunities to improve Britain's
railways through a new approach to franchising and other commercial
initiatives;
- Embracing technology and innovation in the working
environment to enhance the contribution made by one of the industry's
key assets, its workforce;
- Improving the asset, programme and supply-chain
management of the rail industry through closer co-operation between
Network Rail, operators and suppliers;
- Taking a proactive role in the introduction of
innovative technology on to the GB rail network including smart
ticketing, communications technology and the practical application
of the ideas contained in the Rail Technical Strategy;
- Exploring ways to improve the efficiency of the
industry structure through removing overlaps and duplications,
introducing flexible commercial and contractual agreements within
the industry, between industry and Government and between the
industry and its suppliers;
- Building on the development of a rolling stock
strategy to identify value for money opportunities in rolling
stock provision and procurement;
- Ensuring that there is an awareness of key rail
freight issues; and
- Continuing to lead the industry's long-term-planning
activities.
The RDG believes that these priorities are aligned
with many of the recommendations made in your report.
In your letter you asked the RDG to respond specifically
on the two recommendations made by the Committee relating to innovative
ticketing technology and improving retail facilities on stations
and trains.
The Rail Delivery Group supports the need for strategies
to be established in both of these areas and our detailed comments
on each area are attached to this letter as appendices.
The RDG would welcome the opportunity to explain
its work to you, the Committee or its officials if that would
be helpful.
| 
