The Future of Rail? An Evaluation of the 2004 Railway Industry White Paper

In July 2004, the Government published a white paper on ‘The Future of Rail’, which outlined its planned third attempt to reform the railways. This article reviews the new blueprint for rail, in the context of the performance of the industry and its regulatory bodies. The changes proposed are analysed in terms of their likely effects on the infrastructure authority and the train companies. The author concludes that there are major problems with the white paper as key details are omitted, and the proposed changes are heavily reliant on private companies which have performed poorly. The Government has missed the opportunity to renationalize the infrastructure authority, a move which would reduce borrowing costs and bring direct control over infrastructure costs.