In the George Bradshaw Address 2026, the Secretary of State for Transport set out plans to reset rail governance through the Railways Bill. Great British Railways (GBR) would act as the directing mind, a new Passenger Watchdog would enforce standards, and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) would hold GBR to its licence. The package sits alongside retail reform, Pay‑As‑You‑Go expansion and a long‑term freight growth target.
Ministers framed the case for change around fragmentation and cost. Government support for rail last year was cited at £12 billion-around £400 per household-while infrastructure costs per kilometre were described as higher than in France or Germany. The December East Coast Main Line timetable change was offered as evidence of a system where only a minister could take a whole‑network decision, a role intended in future for GBR.
Under the Bill, GBR would run a single network plan and a consolidated profit‑and‑loss for the system, replacing dispersed incentives. Access rules would be simplified to optimise capacity for both passengers and freight. The government stated GBR will be commercially focused, operationally agile and embedded with local partners rather than a centralised Whitehall operator.
Accountability would be formalised through two lines of oversight. An independent GBR board with relevant industry expertise would oversee delivery against one integrated business plan. Separately, the ORR would advise ministers on GBR performance and enforce compliance with a new statutory licence, on which the Department for Transport plans to consult later this year.
Consumer policy is positioned as a central test of the reforms. GBR would carry a statutory duty to promote the interests of passengers and freight users. A Passenger Watchdog is proposed with authority to set service standards, investigate systemic issues and require remedial action, operating as the primary route for redress when journeys fall short.
Retail and fares reforms aim to simplify the user experience. A GBR online retailer would sell tickets without booking fees and remove price inconsistencies across multiple operator sites. Pay‑As‑You‑Go would extend to 20 additional stations in the South East this year, then to 90 stations across the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, with simpler local fares already piloted in Manchester.
The government also highlighted early operational indicators. Department for Transport Operator (DfTO) services were said to outperform other operators on punctuality and cancellations, with more than 76,000 additional weekly seats introduced and South Western Railway increasing deployment of Arterio trains. Ministers confirmed the first national rail fares freeze in three decades.
Freight growth is treated as a strategic objective. The GBR board will include a freight lead, and future timetables would reserve capacity for expansion. The framework anticipates flexibility to lower charges for new services and quicker, more transparent decisions to support investment. A growth target of 75 per cent by 2050 was set, with operators pointing to new bi‑mode locomotives entering service as early progress.
Culture change is presented as essential to reliability and cost control. The government wants one railway and one team, ending contractual disincentives that reward failure or obscure responsibility. Integrated leadership teams are being formed for South Eastern, South Western and soon the Anglia route, with directors empowered to coordinate responses across infrastructure and operations.
Workforce policy is tied to long‑term resilience. Only 19 per cent of rail employees are women and up to 68,000 staff are expected to leave by 2030. The government has laid legislation to reduce the minimum train‑driver age from 20 to 18 and expects GBR to support flexible working, targeted skills pipelines and diverse leadership to meet critical needs in signalling and systems engineering.
Localism features in the institutional design. GBR is expected to integrate rail decisions with devolved and mayoral transport strategies, moving operational choices closer to communities while retaining national network stewardship. Ministers say the aim is a reliable railway that grows patronage and freight while improving value for money for taxpayers.
Policy Wire analysis: the Railways Bill consolidates strategic authority in GBR while distributing operational discretion to regions, with ORR oversight intended to counterbalance centralisation. The decisive factors will be the licence conditions, watchdog powers and whether single P&L and access reform reduce whole‑system costs rather than shift them between actors.
For operators and suppliers, the immediate task is to align bids, investment cases and workforce plans to a single GBR business plan and forthcoming licence obligations. For passenger groups, the near‑term tests are delivery of the new retailer, enforceable standards and predictable redress. For freight, attention should focus on how growth paths and charging flexibility are specified in timetabling policy.
The Department for Transport also referenced prior actions: ending two years of national rail strikes, bringing forward a Passenger Railway Services Public Ownership Bill, approving schemes that had been paused, launching the GBR brand and allocating £45 billion for Northern Powerhouse Rail. The programme now turns on Parliament passing the Railways Bill and subsequent consultations to fix the detailed rules.