by George Muir, Director General, ATOC
January 2005

I have written a foreword for this fine publication for some years. Each year I have focused on a different but topical theme – such as sustainability, industry costs or post-Hatfield recovery. While I have always been optimistic for rail, looking back, it is noticeable how the tone of my contribution has evolved over the years.
This perhaps reflects how the rail industry has emerged from its post-traumatic stress seven years ago following the combined shocks of Hatfield and its aftermath followed by the Government’s decision to put Railtrack into administration.
Today, the rail industry looks and feels  very different: In Network Rail, we have an infrastructure company that is far more customer-focused than its predecessor and which is undertaking far more maintenance and renewals than Railtrack.
The train operators have led the way in restoring punctuality levels back up to 90%  or so and with intent to do still better.
With a national train fleet that is around 60% new or refurbished, we are attracting more and new people to travel by train, giving us Europe’s fastest growing railway.
There are bountiful examples of customer service innovations and improvements – to catering, to on board WiFi, to good, everyday passenger information.
And we are planning for an exciting future of passenger growth – with new rolling-stock, and schemes to improve the national infrastructure with major schemes in London and Scotland either approved or underway.
Finally, not only are we talking about sustainability and making rail ‘greener’ with biofuels trials and regenerative braking
– we are doing something about it too.
This progress is an indication that the railways have regained something, an ingredient they have not had (nor been allowed to have!) for quite some time. I am of course talking about self-confidence.
We now have a confident railway once again. And that ingredient, as long as it can be sustained and seep into every operational vein of our railway’s functioning, will gives the industry a powerful platform on which to build a secure and productive future. Our self-confidence and the renewed confidence bestowed in us by the general public also makes national government keener to support rail too!
Here are some of the reasons why confidence is reservedly back: Britain’s railways are booming: Since 1997, passenger numbers have risen by 42.5% to 1.15bn, the highest level since the peak year of 1946. What’s more, overall passenger satisfaction levels are at around 80%, higher than those of passengers in many of continental countries.
Britain’s railways lead Europe: Every day nearly 20,000 passenger trains run in Britain, more passenger trains than any other European country, except Germany. Passenger and freight services together have grown faster in Britain over the last ten years than in any other European country.
Britain’s railways are investing: nearly 5,000 new coaches have been introduced, and with an average age of only 13 years, Britain currently has one of youngest train fleets of any European country.
Britain’s railways are sustainable: Rail’s carbon emissions per passenger kilometre are about half those of car, and a quarter of those of planes. Recent improvements include reductions of up to 20% in energy consumption by using regenerative braking, and reductions in emissions and noise levels from newer diesel engines.  Britain’s railways are getting better: Although the network is getting busier all the time, performance has been improving too, with around nine out of ten trains arriving punctually.

Britain’s railways are moving closer to the continent: at the time of writing, Her Majesty the Queen has just opened the newly-rebuilt St. Pancras station, a veritable ‘cathedral’ of a station and arguably one that rivals or even surpasses most other European railway stations. If ever one was to begin talking about a ‘renaissance’ in Britain’s railways, it would surely begin at the ‘new’ St. Pancras, a station that was almost demolished save for the efforts of Sir John Betjeman. Yet now, trains arrive and depart to Paris and Brussels traveling on a newly completed high-speed line and from 2009 will receive domestic high speed trains from Kent. The station also provides improved connections to the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland. As Sir Neil Cossons, Chairman of English Heritage from 2000 to July 2007, wrote succinctly in Rail Magazine (7th November 2007) to mark the re-opening of the station: “Here the passenger is king in a palace where trains take centre-stage.”
Those 13 words encapsulate what the new St. Pancras delivers for Britain’s railways.  For St. Pancras symbolises the current state of our railways – like an old friend who rather than gently declining has actually confounded the pessimists and been restored to life – renewed and reinvigorated.

While the railway is now a success story,  it is not without issues and we cannot be complacent nor rest on laurels. Success does breed success, but it also brings new challenges and demands which the rail industry needs to take on board. We live in a time of rising public expectations that means that we have to continually raise our game. There is no time to lose if we are to succeed.
Where Next?
Rail operates within a national context.  The Government’s White Paper, ‘Delivering a Sustainable Railway’, published in July, is a key milestone in the next stage of the railway’s development. It sets out policies for growth and the funding required to deliver it over the period to 2014.
This includes 1,300 additional coaches (which may become 1,700 coaches) to carry more passengers, and the supporting works needed to lengthen platforms and provide space for them to be serviced and maintained. This is an important development and reflects the renewing confidence in rail.
Major capacity increases are planned. Apart from the St. Pancras connection, the now-approved Thameslink project will double the capacity of the only main line railway to cross Central London and give new links between the lines north of London, South London and Gatwick Airport.
Outside London, the bottleneck at Reading
is to be rebuilt with big benefits to the town and the region, and major improvements will be made to the capacity of Birmingham’s
New Street station. £150m is earmarked for station improvements in addition to funds already committed by train operators and Network Rail. £200m has been allocated to rail freight developments and plans include improvements in both safety and performance measures. This reflects confidence that rail delivers for people in their daily lives.
Fares and Tickets
During the coming months, we hope to achieve big changes to the fares and ticketing. ATOC is working with its members and the Department for Transport to provide a simpler fares structure from next year, while still retaining the flexibility that allows passengers to benefit from very low fares at off-peak times.
Internet booking and e-ticketing is being matched by the spread of smartcards and on a number of routes, text message ticketing is being developed to make travel easier for passengers. Confidence makes this happen.
Information
New technology has also revolutionised the provision of rail passenger information in recent years. ATOC runs National Rail Enquiries, and 08457 484950 which is one of the busiest phone numbers in the country. It handles 80,000 calls a day, while the www.nationalrail.co.uk website handles more than one million enquiries per week. TrainTracker allows text enquiries by mobile phone and alerts can be provided for commuters if services are delayed. Further improvements are planned. There is a rich pipeline of improvements underway. Again, confidence allows rail to do this.
Tackling challenges
Rail’s issues now are to achieve the growth we need for passengers while continuing to address costs – and continuing to provide a service to attract passengers from car, bus and plane. It is a challenge that train operators relish. And we are addressing them – with confidence. ATOC has already given considerable thought to further growth and has identified 25 schemes to relieve pinchpoints and provide for further growth beyond 2014. Around half of rail fares are regulated by Government, and half are unregulated. Train operators have been adept at pricing tickets to fill spare capacity, from Saver fares to very low fares ‘advance purchase’ tickets at off peak times, some as low as £1. The challenge is to meet the Government’s target of shifting more of the cost of the railway from taxpayer to farepayer while continuing to offer value for money. One approach being developed is to simplify the present fares structure and to improve its presentation, particularly on the web. With more people seeking to use rail, the prospects are good. In environmental terms, rail scores well, and concerns about carbon emissions are going to encourage a transfer to rail from less sustainable modes.
Growing traffic congestion and more traffic restraint measures and parking constraints are also going to mean more people turning to the train for a quick and reliable journey into town. At the same time, and for the same reasons, shippers are looking to use rail more for moving goods.
Rail is a people business, and train operators now employ about 1,000 more staff than at the time of privatisation, driving more trains and looking after many more passengers. We have many good staff who really care for their passengers. Nevertheless, staff training and further improvements in skills levels is going to be required to meet the increasing expectations of tomorrow’s discerning passengers. The reassurance provided by staff on stations and trains will continue to be important to passengers.
So, in conclusion, in what will be my last foreword to this publication as ATOC’s Director-General, I would say this: I wish all
of you in the supply side of our industry well. While there have been peaks and troughs over the years, and trading has not always been easy, I really am confident that you serve an industry that is deservedly self-confident about its future.
200 years since the Oystermouth Railway in Swansea became the first railway authorised by Act of Parliament to carry fare paying passengers, railways continue to have a high political profile, and to be a mainstay of Britain’s economic success. Britain’s Railways are now building on a proud tradition for significant future growth and higher standards. And they are doing so with confidence. ■