Amber light for local control of rail
Author: Mark Smulian, LGC |
Consortia of councils could gain powers over rail services, a government consultation has said.
It was launched by transport secretary Justine Greening as part of the government response to Sir Roy McNulty’s review of the rail system.
Both Transport for London and the metropolitan area integrated transport authorities have said they want to take over local commuter rail services.
Ms Greening told Parliament: ?It’s time to give communities more control over local services. So we are consulting on devolving decisions about the railway to sub-national bodies.?
The consultation makes it clear that the government is likely to limit devolution to rural lines that have little impact on the national network.
It said though that there were ?some attractive arguments? for also devolving control over commuter services into major cities.
Central government would keep control of rail investment on lines serving main London terminals because of their national role, but would ?remain open to considering proposals for devolution of specific services where these are both compatible with the effective operation of the network?.
Local control would have to be organised so as not to impede rail freight, the paper added.
It said devolution to one local authority was unlikely since few train services were confined to a single area, and consortia would need to be formed.
These would have to be democratically accountable and have governance structures, ?able to make all necessary decisions and take responsibility for risk for the duration of a franchise?, the paper said.
Ministers would not dictate the shape of consortia but suggested they might have the same boundaries as local enterprise partnerships.
The Passenger Transport Executive Group, which represents the metropolitan areas, welcomed the consultation.
Chair Geoff Inskip said: ?We are very pleased that the secretary of state has recognised that devolution of powers over rail services can bring real benefits to passengers.?