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One of the longest histories of contracting is in the rail sector. There is a considerable body of literature on the history of the UK railways in particular, although the literature does not always provide much detail about contracting itself. Today, rail privatisation, and the performance of privately built or privately operated railways, are the subjects of debate in many diverse countries worldwide. And in the UK, the relationship between the rail infrastructure network and train operating networks is under continuing review.
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| Rail Fares and Franchises (PDF) |
| House of Commons Transport Committee, 2009 |
| The Stationery Office |
| This report details findings of an enquiry addressing UK rail services during the severe economic downturn. In particular it addresses how fares and franchises will be affected by the recession. It highlights significant flaws in current franchising arrangements and in particular underlying problems with the current market model. |
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| UK |
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| On the Right Track: New models for integrated transport (Web Page) |
| Nigel Keohane, 2009 |
| New Local Government Network (NLGN) |
| This report proposes a range of new initiatives to integrate transport in the UK. These include integrated travelcard systems, renewed capital investment strategies and incentives to tackle congestion and climate change. This is a link to the payment page only. |
| ISBN: 978 1 903 447 83 3 |
| UK |
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| Letting Rail Franchises: 2005-07 (PDF) |
| National Audit Office, 2008 |
| The Stationery Office |
| The report examines rail franchise competitions in the UK; these competitions' impact on the taxpayer; these competitions' impact on the passenger; and the approach to managing rail franchises. It finds that the DfT has delivered thorough service specifications and generated keen bidding competition. Overall the approach has yielded better value for money. |
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| UK |
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| The London Underground and the Public-Private Partnership Agreements (PDF) |
| House of Commons Tranport Committee, 2008 |
| The Stationery Office |
| A report on the reasons for the failure of one of the private sector infrastructure companies responsible for the maintenance, renewal and upgrading of parts of the London Underground and recommendations on the future delivery of the improvements. |
| HC 45 |
| UK |
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| Delivering a Sustainable Railway (PDF) |
| Department for Transport, 2007 |
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| A White Paper which outlines plans for the long-term growth and development of railways. The three main aims behind the extensive plans for reform are increasing capacity, improving railway customer experience and fulfilling the environmental potential of railways. The paper commits the Government to providing a safer, reliable and more flexible rail service for the future. |
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| UK |
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| A Tale of Two Infracos (PDF) |
| London Assembly Transport Committee, 2007 |
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| The second review of the London Underground PPPs which compares the approach of the two consortia to service delivery. It criticises the use of the preferred supplier model by one of the companies as inefficient and attributes to it much of the backlog of maintenance work and service delays. It also recommends that the government consider terminating the contract if there is no significant improvement. |
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| UK |
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| Thameslink 2000 Inspector's Report 2006 (Web Page) |
| Department for Transport, 2006 |
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| This report was written at the request of the Secretary of State for Transport. It makes inquiries into the most recent applications to Network Rail for planning. The report also provides a number of viable funding proposals for the Thameslink 2000 project, which include options for private funding. |
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| UK |
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| Passenger Rail Franchising (PDF) |
| House of Commons Transport Committee, 2006 |
| The Stationery Office |
| A report on the purpose and performance of rail franchising in the UK following the abolition of the SRA and the publication of a new 30-year strategy for railways. It also looks at whether the contracts are the right size and length and whether more competition is required. |
| HC 1354 |
| UK |
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| The South Eastern Passenger Rail Franchise (PDF) |
| House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 2006 |
| The Stationery Office |
| The committee considered that there should be greater realism in assessing bids for rail franchises followed up with closer monitoring of performance. They suggested also that cost recovery by the SRA could have been more robust and that consultants should be used more carefully and their findings shared more widely. |
| HC 770 |
| UK |
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| Progress on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (PDF) |
| National Audit Office, 2005 |
| HC 77 |
| This report looks at the progress that has been made in the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. It details the changes that have occurred regarding the restructuring of the project, and key developments that have been made concerning the main bodies involved. This document also outlines recommendations for improvement of future projects. |
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| UK |
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| Channel Tunnel Rail Link (PDF) |
| Public Accounts Committee, 2006 |
| The Stationery Office |
| Recommendations include the importance of obtaining realistic forecasts where future passenger revenue is a major part of repaying the costs of major construction projects and furthermore that the proportion of risk transfer by the government to the private sector should be reflected in the extent of investors' equity stake in the project. Given the marginal economic justification for the project the regeneration benefits also need to be maximised. |
| HC 727 |
| UK |
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| The South Eastern Passenger Rail Franchise (PDF) |
| National Audit Office (NAO), 2005 |
| The Stationery Office |
| Report on the Strategic Rail Authority's decision to terminate a rail franchise, which was the first time a Train Operating Company had lost its contract. Part of the reason for the failure of the service was attributed to an over-ambitious bid based on government policy at the time to award contracts for bidders requiring least public subsidy. |
| HC 457 |
| UK |
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| Maintaining and Improving Britain's Railway Stations (PDF) |
| House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 2005 |
| The Stationery Office |
| The Committee noted a significant lack of basic facilities in stations and a failure by Train Operating Companies to invest enough money to improve their properties. Recommendations were made to promote improvement through innovative and cost-effective methods by using businesses to sponsor train information displays and local groups to help maintain the station. A more rigorous monitoring system was also emphasised. |
| HC 535 |
| UK |
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| Maintaining and Improving Britain's Railway Stations (PDF) |
| National Audit Office (NAO), 2005 |
| The Stationery Office |
| A review of passenger satisfaction with station facilities and services and the barriers to their improvement. It reports that a gap is emerging between rising passenger expectations and value for money. |
| HC 132 |
| UK |
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| The Performance of the London Underground |
| House of Commons Transport Committee, 2005 |
| The Stationery Office |
| Sixth Report of Session 2004-05. Concludes that on evidence received by the Committee, improvements in facilities and performance are not in proportion to the huge sums of money flowing through the PPP. |
| HC 94 |
| UK |
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| FirstGroup PLC and the Scottish Passenger Rail Franchise (PDF) |
| Competition Commission, 2004 |
| The Stationery Office |
| A report on the proposed acquisition of the Scottish Passenger rail franchise by the leading UK supplier of bus travel. This was found to entail a substantial lessening of competition but only affecting a minority of routes and passengers and so behavioural remedies are proposed involving undertakings on fares and frequencies. |
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| UK |
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| London Underground PPP: Were They Good Deals? (PDF) |
| National Audit Office (NAO), 2004 |
| The Stationery Office |
| The financial component of the NAO's London Underground PPPs review (see above). Suggests that specification of outputs in the contracts contributed to high transaction costs. |
| HC 645 |
| UK |
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| Network Rail - Making a Fresh Start (PDF) |
| National Audit Office (NAO), 2004 |
| The Stationery Office |
| A report on the governance and financing framework of Network Rail following its takeover over Railtrack and the challenge to improve incentives to achieve value for money rather than just saying within budgetary targets. |
| HC 532 |
| UK |
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| The Future of the Railway (Volume 1) (PDF) |
| House of Commons Transport Committee, 2004 |
| The Stationery Office |
| Identifies extremely serious systemic flaws in the organisation of the railway and seeks to address a large number of fundamental issues with the state of the railways. |
| HC 145-I |
| UK |
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| State aid No N 264/2002 - London Underground Public Private Partnership (PDF) |
| European Commission, 2002 |
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| Consideration by the Commission as to whether the tube PPPs raised any concerns under EU regulations prohibiting State aid. It found that no such concerns were raised as long as the compensation paid by the state is not more than the minimum needed to pay for the infrastructure services and it is not used for any other purpose. |
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| EU |
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| The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Web Page) |
| House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 2002 |
| The Stationery Office |
This is the PAC report following up on the NAO's 'The Channel Tunnel Rail Link' report, which examined the 1998 restructuring of the PFI deal for the cross-Channel rail service. |
| HC 630 |
| UK |
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| The Value of Rail: Route Map to 2004 (PDF) |
| Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), 2002 |
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| The purpose of this document is to help provide the case for public and private expenditure and investment in rail. This document from the Strategic Rail Authority looks at ten interconnected steps required from Network Rail which will assist in solving the problems of rail. |
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| UK |
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| Funding of London Underground (Web Page) |
| House of Commons Evironment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee, 2000 |
| The Stationery Office |
| Inquiry which considered the level of funding required by London Underground and the development of PPPs as wekk as what alternative proposals there were to meet London Underground's financial need. |
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| UK |
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| Rail Transport: Volume 1- Report |
| Industry Commission, 2000 |
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| Review of the state of Australian railways which recommends that railways should be allowed to operate as full commercial business with full control of their budget so as to fully reform an ailing system and create a more efficient market for air, road and rail transport. |
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| Australia |
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| Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions: The Sale of Railfreight Distribution |
| National Audit Office (NAO), 1999 |
| The Stationery Office |
| A report that analyzes the decision to privatise Railfreight Distribution, the results suggest that privatisation was not in all circumstances the least expensive option for the business, but that the possible range of costs for each option was such that the decision to privatise was a sound one. |
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| UK |
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| Privatisation of the Rolling Stock Leasing Companies |
| National Audit Office (NAO), 1998 |
| The Stationery Office |
| A report assessing the privatisation of the three rolling stock leasing companies (Angel, Eversholt and Porterbrook), a process conducted by the Department of Transport during January and February of 1996. The document contains some criticism about the mechanics of the procedure an provides recommendations for future dealings. |
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| UK |
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| Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF): The award of the first three passenger rail franchises |
| National Audit Office (NAO), 1996 |
| The Stationery Office |
| A report assessing the award procedure of the of the first three passenger rail franchises, stating that overall, the process was able to generate a good level of competition. Furthermore, the report contains some recommendations for enhancing the programme. |
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| UK |
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| British Rail Maintenance Limited: Sale of Maintenance Depots |
| National Audit Office (NAO), 1996 |
| The Stationery Office |
| A report assessing the sale by British Rail of their heavy maintenance businesses. The document indicates that the successful venture may have established a competitive structure that could introduce incentives to reduce the heavy maintenance costs. |
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| UK |
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| Urban Transport (Volume 1) |
| Industry Commission, 1994 |
| Australian Government Publishing Service |
| General analysis of the performance of Australian urban transport systems, travel patterns, government policy and the scope of competition and regulation in reforming them. |
| ISBN 0 644 33300 6 |
| Australia |
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| Urban Transport (Volume 2) |
| Industry Commission, 1994 |
| Australian Government Publishing Service |
| Analysis of the different components of Australian urban transport systems, including bus, rail, taxis, hirecars, community transport and cycling. |
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| Australia |
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