So, will the government ever fix Britain’s railways?

It is a case of one step forward, one back, or a U-turn, or reversing back up the track. Depressing and increasingly predictable, thinks Chris Blackhurst

Given the way this government operates, the big picture of the railways is perpetually scrapped (Getty)

Britain’s railways are going nowhere.

Literally, that is the case, as I found to my cost this week. I was due to speak at a conference near St Paul’s in London. I left home in ample time, caught the train to Waterloo and then, between Barnes Bridge and Barnes, we stopped.

Eventually, the loudspeaker crackled into life and the guard said there was a problem ahead with a level crossing. At least, we thought that’s what he said because his voice was barely audible.

Then, we waited and waited. Until he came on again, still hopelessly sotto voce, effectively whispering that it was not the crossing but a signalling issue ahead. More waiting. Some of us asked him how long we would be held. He did not know. He appeared to have no ability of finding out.

Further waiting. My cushion of time was by now disappearing. But I could still make it if he would let us off the train and we could walk along the track and I could get a cab. He said he could not open the doors. He did not say why. In fact, what he said was that he couldn’t open them because he couldn’t, which is the sort of reasoning we’ve grown used to with announcements at stations (“the train is late because the train is late”). They must teach it at their educational centres.

One fellow passenger scarily started banging the window with increasing ferocity. Eventually, we were told the train would be going back to Barnes Bridge where we could alight, and then it would be looping round, to Twickenham and to Waterloo. That journey would take 40 minutes, when it normally would have taken 18 minutes. I had to phone and apologise. I could not make my allotted slot.

We were informed, though, that we could apply for compensation via the website. As if that was okay, then. For the fare, however, not the loss of my speaking engagement. As for the conference organisers, inconvenienced by my no-show, they were not entitled to anything either.

I’ve experienced similar on trips North to visit relatives these past few years, of trains marooned, arriving in one instance a few minutes late only to see the connecting service pulling out. It never occurred to the station staff to hold the train until our train arrived – we had to wait an hour and a half for the next one.

And I’ve not mentioned the toilets that don’t work, the closed buffet (“no hot water”), the faulty air conditioning with windows that can’t be opened in the heat of summer...

Nor have I said the word “strikes”, which drag on, seemingly without an end in sight – a bit like travelling via rail – with union and management disinclined to compromise and reach a settlement so we, the consumer, must suffer.

This, though, is a regime that is all for ‘growth, growth, growth’. That can only be achieved by boosting our transport network

They really are going nowhere. Because two days after sitting between Barnes Bridge and Barnes for an hour-and-a- quarter, the current transport secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, announced a government plan to overhaul them was being shelved. In May 2021, the then transport secretary, Grant Shapps proudly unveiled what was billed as the biggest shake-up in decades. A new body, Great British Railways (GBR), would replace the existing “fragmented” system. GBR would be state-owned, and would set timetables and prices, sell tickets in England and manage rail infrastructure.

Quite how an organisation calling itself “Great British” can sell tickets in one section of Great Britain only is of course neither here nor there (again, rather like our railways).

Roll forward to today, not very far, and, such is the nature of the Conservative leadership merry-go-round, that Shapps has gone and the latest incarnation stalls his mooted legislation.

It is a case of one step forward, one back, or a U-turn, or reversing back up the track. Depressing and increasingly predictable.

They’re saying not, as they invariably always do. They remain committed to the Shapps scheme but pressure on passing bills at Westminster meant it had to be postponed. Not a priority it seems. While they would not be pushing for a hefty piece of transport statute, they would be looking to bring in narrower bills around new technology, beginning with one on e-scooters.

For now, and given the way this government operates, that must imply possibly forever, the big picture piece is scrapped. Instead, we’re getting tiny morsels, scraps of not much. From fragmented to fragmented, in other words.

This, though, is a regime that is all for “growth, growth, growth”. That can only be achieved by boosting our transport network. Our roads are overcrowded and jammed, and besides, cars are environmentally unfriendly. Railways were, and should be, a key ingredient in our drive to a prosperous future.

Here we are, however, stationary in the sidings. Yet again, promises were made, expectations given and not met. Consider as well, the six towns and cities that spent heavily, bidding to be the location for the new GBR headquarters. That decision has also been delayed but it will be taken, apparently. Whichever wins from Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and York is entitled to wonder if the prestige of being home to Britain’s rail services will ever materialise.

GBR. It’s eerily reminiscent of the old BR, or British Rail. All that is missing is the G, or Great, but as far as our railways are concerned, that’s been absent for quite a while.