Peter Wilkinson, director of rail passenger services at the Department for Transport, did not mince his words on an internal industry call in October. According to others on the call, he is alleged to have said that Great British Railways is likely to act as a “benevolent dictatorship”.
Another key reform to cull franchising and pay operators a fixed fee to run services, will create a “master-slave” relationship with train companies in thrall to the state, said Wilkinson.
Industry sources highlight that “punch-up Pete” – as he is known by trade union leaders over his tough approach to collective bargaining – is unlikely to be overly positive about Shapps’ reforms.
His job, for which he is remunerated £100,000 more than the Prime Minister each year, could be rendered redundant if and when the changes become a reality.
The Treasury is also far from happy about the Department for Transport splashing the cash on the new body, with the pandemic having cost the Exchequer more than £15bn in subsidies.
A recent report by regulator the Office of Rail and Road, meanwhile, suggested that costs have continued to rise during the crisis despite services being cut.
Rishi Sunak set aside £205m “to begin the mobilisation of Great British Railways” in his October Spending Review.
Industry sources, however, say the cost of the new body on taxpayers is likely to be in the billions rather than the millions – money the Treasury is unwilling to spend.
It comes in part from growing hires to manage the task. Andrew Haines, the boss of Network Rail, has been tasked with the “mobilisation”, leading a “Great British Railways Transition Team” and it is understood this team has already swelled to 200 in number.
Despite Shapps having insisted that Great British Railways will not be “a bigger version of Network Rail”, critics will argue that with the slow pace and growing number of people involved, Great British Railways is on track to be exactly that.
And they will point to the proliferation of Whitehall ‘blob’ speak from Shapps.
“The Transition Team will now be responsible for driving forward reforms and creating the railway’s new guiding mind. They will initially focus on driving revenue recovery efforts post-pandemic, bringing a whole industry approach to tackling cost and promoting efficiency and establishing a strategic freight unit to boost the sector,” the Transport Secretary said in October.
Not everyone is disappointed by the slow pace. London-listed Trainline, the market leader in selling train tickets, had appeared to be under threat from another, impending strand of the rail reforms – the Government’s own ticketing website.
Around £400m was wiped off the value of the business in May as the proposals were announced.
