History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to date
During this period, High Speed 1, the West Coast Main Line upgrade and Crossrail were completed and more construction projects are currently under way.
[9][10] Peak-time fares have increased by over 200% (since privatisation) to deter people from travelling at these times,[5] whereas the price of advance tickets has halved in the same period.
[16] In the wake of the Hatfield rail crash in 2000, Railtrack entered into financial meltdown and the industry was in deep crisis.
Another important development occurred in the aftermath of the Potters Bar accident in May 2002 when a commuter train derailed (coincidentally on the same stretch of the East Coast Main Line as Hatfield) due to poorly maintained points.
This came to an end in February 2007 when a Virgin Trains West Coast Class 390 Pendolino derailed near Grayrigg in Cumbria, killing one person.
The cause of the accident was identical to that in Potters Bar nearly five years earlier – once again calling into question Network Rail's maintenance procedures.
He immediately began work on plans for a new high-speed route between London and Birmingham (later known as High Speed 2), which would augment the West Coast Main Line.
Adonis also announced plans to electrify the Great Western Main Line from London as far as Swansea, as well as infill electrification schemes in the North West of England to remove diesel traction from certain key routes.
[25] Diesel Trains Ltd was to have responsibility for the purchase and distribution of 202 DMU vehicles to three TOCs – First Great Western, First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail.
[27] After the 2010 General Election, the new Conservative led Coalition continued Labour's rail policies largely unaltered after a pause to review the finances.
Whilst initially showing scepticism towards the electrification schemes of the Great Western route, they later gave the project its backing and work began formally in 2012.
Incumbent Virgin Rail Group initiated a judicial review against the decision, citing the fact that First's bid was even more ambitious than the one which had scuttled National Express East Coast less than three years earlier.
Due to the cost-of-living crisis, RMT union members at Network Rail and 13 train operating companies voted in favour of strike action on 24 May 2022.
[47][48] In March 2016, the National Infrastructure Commission said that Crossrail 2 should be taken forward "as a priority" and recommended that a bill should pass through Parliament by 2019 and the line should be open by 2033.
[52] In July 2019, the Urban Transport Group released a report that showed regional rail travel had experienced a 29% growth in the ten years to 2017/18.
[54] The Transport Select Committee have met on a number of occasions since early 2020 and considered the 'Trains Fit for the Future" ongoing enquiry which was started under the previous session under Lilian Greenwood's chairship.
[60] The rail network will be partly renationalised, with infrastructure and operations brought together under a new company Great British Railways.
[66][67] In December 2021 The Telegraph newspaper reported in an apparent leak, that the treasury had decided not to provide funds for further electrification and thus help to decarbonise the railways.
[72][73] The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom occurred in this period and caused a catastrophic fall off in the number of passengers using the rail network although freight held up reasonably well.
[75][76][77] While passenger numbers had recovered to over 80% of their pre-Covid levels by July-September 2022, how this will affect the long-term health of the rail industry remains to be seen.
