Making The Most From Rail Franchising

TSSA believes that the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), by commencing refranchising before delivering its strategy, has started long-term policies before they have been properly developed and left the industry ill-informed about the SRA's detailed plans for the future.

An independent report commissioned by TSSA concluded that:

• The SRA's refranchising process, whilst successful in some areas, should be postponed until after a debate on the structure of the industry.
  
• Rail privatisation created a less efficient and less co-operative network that has harmed passenger interests.
  
• The franchise structure can create many problems.
  
• The fragmented and privatised industry structure, with Railtrack receiving fixed fees from TOCs, hinders network growth and forces Railtrack to increase profits by reducing costs.
  

An executive summary of the report can be found here