Rail Partners exists to make the railway better by harnessing the expertise and creativity of private sector operators for the benefit of those who use the railway, passengers and freight customers, and those who pay for it, including taxpayers.
Andy Bagnall, chief executive, Rail Partners, said:
'Introducing open access operations on the West Coast Mainline is good news for passengers who will reap the benefits that healthy competition between operators brings of a choice of services, innovation on fares, and improved performance.
'The evidence both here in Britain, on the East Coast Mainline, and across Europe shows that where more commercial freedom exists for operators, it leads to better service, cheaper fares and greater efficiencies.
'To deliver benefits to passengers, government should make it a priority to remove barriers to open access operations now and during the next Parliament, in parallel to wider reform that harnesses private sector operators within a new public body.'
Notes to editors
- Rail Partners hosted the Open Access Summit on Monday 27 November, at 1 Great George Street, Westminster, London, bringing together industry leaders to discuss unlocking the potential of open access rail operations within Britain. The event focused on how to encourage new open access services onto the rail network for the benefit of passengers and how best to remove existing barriers to prospective market entrants.
- The benefits associated with ‘on-rail’ competition, including open access operations, are explored in Section 3 of our publication Track to Growth: Creating a dynamic railway for passengers and the economy.
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