Download or read book Regulating Network Rail s efficiency written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-04 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Limitations in Network Rail's information on its own costs are hampering the ability of the Office of Rail Regulation (the Regulator) to judge the genuineness of the efficiency savings reported by Network Rail. This report acknowledges that the Regulator has significantly developed the methods it uses to judge efficiency. Its targets have demanded substantial improvements from Network Rail. Network Rail has made efficiency savings of 27 per cent in the five years to 2008-09, equivalent to £1.8 billion in that final year. This was below the Regulator's target of 31 per cent, although this was still an achievement when compared to savings in other regulated industries. The Regulator has determined that substantial scope remains for Network Rail to improve its efficiency, estimating that maintenance and renewal activities were 34 per cent to 40 per cent less efficient than the most efficient European rail infrastructure managers in 2008. The Regulator estimates that Network Rail can achieve further efficiency savings of 21 per cent in the five years to March 2014 - equivalent to spending £940 million less in 2013-14 than the forecast for that year without efficiency gains. However, there are continuing limitations in the robustness and coverage of Network Rail's unit cost information. These need to be addressed promptly to improve confidence that future efficiency targets accurately reflect Network Rail's potential for sustainable savings, as the efficiency gap narrows, and that reported savings correctly reflect efficiency gains actually achieved.
Download or read book Office of Rail Regulation written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-07-12 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Office of Rail Regulation (the Regulator) is the independent economic and safety regulator of the rail industry in England, Scotland and Wales. The Regulator's duties include promoting economy and efficiency in the rail industry with much of its work focusing on Network Rail, the owner and monopoly provider of the national rail network, including track, signalling and stations. Network Rail does not face normal commercial pressures from investors and lenders to improve efficiency as it is a not-for-dividend company without shareholders, financed by debt guaranteed by the Government. It is therefore the role of the Regulator to hold Network Rail to account for its performance and to incentivise it to become more efficient. The Regulator sets efficiency targets when it determines the limits on fees Network Rail can charge train operators for use of tracks, stations and depots. Sir Roy McNulty's recent review of the rail industry showed that the rail industry continued to fail to achieve effective value for money. The Committee states that the Regulator did not exert sufficient pressure on Network Rail to improve its efficiency, and that there is an absence of effective sanctions for under-performance in the system and should enforce a stronger link between performance and bonus payments to Network Rail's senior managers. The relationship between Network Rail, the Regulator and their advisors appears to the Committee to be too cosy. Network Rail should be more accountable for its use of public money, and more transparent in its operations. The Committee sets out 11 conclusions and recommendations.
Download or read book Monitoring and Treatment of Network Rail s Underspend and Efficiency written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Reducing Passenger Rail Delays by Better Management of Incidents written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the 53rd report from the Committee of Public Accounts (HCP 655, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215524973), and examines how the rail industry, led by the Department for Transport and Network Rail, manages incidents on the rail network, and how passengers are treated when delays occur. The Committee has set out a number of conclusions and recommendations, including: that Network Rail receives only half of its funding from the taxpayer but as a private sector company it is not directly accountable to Parliament, the Committee states the Department should strengthen the governance and accountability arrangements; that the Office of Rail Regulation should review and revise targets where appropriate to take account of changing conditions and challenges; the Committee states that the Department needs to play a more active role in bringing together the rail industry, emergency services and other stakeholders to improve incident management; and further that the Office of Rail Regulation should make sure mechanisms are in place so that the emergency services know who to contact during rail incidents; that passengers are not receiving the information they need during delays and are not always told how to claim compensation for delays. During the 2006-07 period over 1.2 billion passenger journeys were made in Great Britain on services that arrived on time almost nine times out of ten. The Department provided £3.4 billion to Network Rail and £1.7 billion to the train operating companies, whilst passengers paid some £5.1 billion in fares, with the NAO estimating that delays cost passengers £1 billion in terms of lost time. This report follows on from a National Audit Office report (HCP 308, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780102953053).
Download or read book Benchmarking and Regulation in Transport written by Nash, Chris and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This insightful book provides readers with an in-depth discussion of the use of benchmarking in regulation in the European transport sector. It argues that benchmarking is invaluable to regulators, particularly in the transport sector where the pressures of competition in – or for – the market are often absent.
Download or read book The Modernisation of the West Coast Main Line written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-11-22 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This NAO report examines how effectively the Strategic Rail Authority/Department for Transport and Network Rail turned around the West Coast programme between 2002 and 2006 in terms of delivering outputs and expected outcomes in line with the schedule and targets set by the government and set out in the West Coast Main Line Strategy of June 2003. Three areas were examined in detail: how the Strategic Rail Authority/Department of Transport and Network Rail addressed the weaknesses in programme management before 2002 to achieve delivery to schedule; whether costs have been brought under control; whether the programme is delivering its anticipated benefits. A number of findings and conclusions have been set out, including: that the SRA and Network Rail did turn around the programme through an industry-supported strategy, reducing technology risk through reliance on conventional signalling for most of the upgrade; there were some implementation problems in two areas, axle counters and computer-based interlocking signalling, which resulted in an increase in costs; in general, Network Rail's control of costs has improved, but an analysis of its reported and forecast expenditure shows a final programme spend of £8.6 billion, with an overspend of around £300 million; for renewal work on the west coast route, Network Rail is within its overall funding allowance and on course to achieve 70% of the £940 million cost efficiencies assumed by the rail Regulator; at present the Strategic Rail Authority provides subsidies on an annual basis to Virgin West Coast of £590 million in 2005-06 period, this amount represents a payment needed to maintain train services and is outside the £8.6 billion; the project has delivered journey time improvements, with punctuality and train reliability on the West Coast having improved since 2005; in the 2005-06 period, passenger journeys on Virgin West Coast grew by over 20%, and the remaining work on the programme to 2009 will increase passenger train and freight capacity, but the consensus in the rail industry is that around 2015 to 2020, the line will have insufficient capacity to sustain current levels of growth in passenger and freight traffic; the overall strategy has delivered passenger benefits from a modernised track, but value for money for the programme has not been maximised. The report sets out a number of recommendations, including: that the Department in future should model and appraise costs and benefits for different options for the timing of delivery of the project; that the Department and the Office of Rail Regulation should further develop standard definitions for costs for different stages and elements of transport projects; where projects propose new technology at significant cost, the Department and ORR should ensure that Network Rail draws up a supporting business case, addressing costs, benefits and possible challenges along with a supporting implementation and maintenance strategy; the ORR should ensure Network Rail progresses its plans and adopts best practice strategy, and this approach should include a company-wide strategy that addresses whole life costs in its investment appraisal/project business cases, along with improved recording of maintenance and renewals costs for its equipment.
Download or read book UK economic regulators written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: Select Committee on Regulators and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-13 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: UK economic Regulators : 1st report of session 2006-07, Vol. 2: Evidence
Download or read book Increasing passenger rail capacity written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-11-09 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department for Transport is eighteen months into a five-year, £9 billion investment programme to improve rail travel, in particular by increasing the number of passenger places on trains by March 2014. The Department's latest plans show that all the relevant targets will be missed. There will be 15 per cent fewer extra places delivered in London in the morning peak and 33 per cent fewer into other major cities, compared to the numbers the Department stated would be needed just to hold overcrowding at current levels. The Committee is concerned that the failure to meet the targets set will lead to substantial increases in already unacceptable overcrowding levels by 2014 and beyond. Rising demand for rail travel combined with serious cuts in public expenditure make it imperative that the rail industry becomes more efficient, otherwise the passenger will suffer. The Department says that levels of crowding, and ticket prices, depend on policy decisions about the level of government subsidy, but this ignores the scope for efficiency savings to release resources for front line services. The industry's ability to provide a good quality rail service, including acceptable levels of crowding, depends crucially on the efficiency of all players in the rail industry, and of Network Rail in particular. Rail infrastructure costs more in Great Britain than in other countries, and there is a large potential for Network Rail to improve its efficiency. The Office of Rail Regulation should be challenging Network Rail's efficiency at a detailed level.
Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Transport Economics written by Jonathan Cowie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-08-07 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of Transport Economics offers the first state of the art overview of the discipline of transport economics as it stands today, reflective of key research and policy. Transport is an important area of study and one which is problem rich, stimulating a great deal of debate in areas which impact on everyday lives. Much of this focuses on the practicalities of the modern-day phenomenon of mass movement and all of the issues which surround it. The discipline of economics is central to this debate, and consequently the study and application of transport economics has a chief role to play in seeking to address subjects relating to major transport issues. It can be argued that at the very heart of any transport issue or problem lies the underlying economics of the situation – understand that and you alleviate the problem. Featuring contributions from world-leading scholars and practitioners from across the globe, all of the chapters within this book are written from a practical perspective; theory is applied and developed using real-world examples. The book examines concepts, issues, ideas and practicalities of transport provision in five key topic areas: public transport public transport reform economic development and transport modelling transport and the environment freight transport. A real strength of the book is in linking theory to practice, and hence the ‘economics’ that are examined in this text are not the economics of the abstract, but rather the economics of everyday living. Practical and insightful, this volume is an essential reference for any student or researcher working in all areas of transport provision, ranging from planning, appraisal, regulation and freight; and for all practitioners looking to develop their professional knowledge and who are seeking professional accreditation.
Download or read book Government Health and Safety Commission and Executive and Office of the Rail Regulator Responses to the Seventh Report from the Committee on the Future of the Railway written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reply to 7th report, session 2003-04 (HCP 145-I, ISBN 0215016432)
Download or read book The Routledge Companion to Performance Management and Control written by Elaine Harris and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 716 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Performance management is key to the ongoing success of any organisation, allowing it to meet its strategic objectives by designing and implementing management control systems. This book goes beyond the usual discussion of performance management in accounting and finance, to consider strategic management, human behaviour and performance management in different countries and contexts. With a global mix of world-renowned researchers, this book systematically covers the what, the who, the where and the why of performance management and control (PMC) systems. A comprehensive, state-of-the-art collection edited by a leading expert in the field, this book is a vital resource for all scholars, students and researchers with an interest in business, management and accounting.
Download or read book Handbook on Railway Regulation written by Matthias Finger and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-25 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking a global approach, this insightful Handbook brings together leading researchers to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in railway regulation with a particular focus on countries that rely heavily on railways for transportation links. The Handbook also considers the most pressing issues for those working in and with railway systems, and outlines future trends in the development of rail globally.
Download or read book Crossrail Bill written by Great Britain: Parliament: Select Committee on the Crossrail Bill and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Crossrail Bill was published as HCB 5, session 2007-08 (ISBN 978021579202).
Download or read book Reforming our railways written by Great Britain: Department for Transport and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-03-08 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Command Paper sets out the Government's vision and policies for the railways. Applying to England and Wales, the Government seeks to work with the rail industry and others to secure significant reductions in the railway's cost base, while at the same time improving the railway for passengers and freight customers. The Government sees railway reform as delivering four objectives: (1) Securing value for the passenger and addressing concerns about rail fares; (2) Dealing with the fiscal deficit; (3) Supporting economic growth, through continued taxpayer investment for passengers and freight; (4) Delivering environmental goals, by reducing carbon emissions. The Command Paper also considers the finding and recommendations set out in Sir Roy McNulty's independent "Realising the Potential of GB Rail: Report of the Rail Value for Money Study" (available from the DfT here - http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/realising-the-potential-of-gb-rail/). The publication is divided into six chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: A better deal for passengers; Chapter 3: A more strategic role for Government; Chapter 4: A more efficient industry; Chapter 5: Better information; Chapter 6: Implementing rail reform.
Download or read book Planning Economic Infrastructure written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-01-16 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Large-scale infrastructure projects, in sectors such as energy, rail, roads, water, waste, flood defences and digital communications, pose significant challenges. With limited funds available, the government is looking to private companies to wholly own and finance around 64 per cent of the £310 billion expected cost by 2015, with the burden of funding likely to shift towards the public as consumers rather than taxpayers. The first of the risks to achieving value for money is that forecasters might get wrong the need for infrastructure in the long term. Secondly, uncertainty over government policy might lead to deferment or abandonment of projects in the UK for opportunities elsewhere. Thirdly, there is the possibility of a failure to take into account the cumulative impact on consumers. Increasing the burden on consumers may increase the risk of financial hardship, or the need for unplanned taxpayer support. The full impact of spending on economic infrastructure in the years ahead is unclear. While there is information on individual sectors, no overall assessment has been undertaken by government. Taxpayers may be exposed to substantial losses as a result of government guarantees to bear some project risks should they materialize. The NAO has made a series of recommendations to help ensure value for money is achieved. It calls for the Treasury to work with departments and regulators to provide greater clarity for consumers regarding the financial impact of planned infrastructure investment. Where there are limits on affordability and availability of finance, the NAO notes that the Treasury and departments may need to refine their prioritization of infrastructure programmes and projects.
Download or read book Utility Regulation in Competitive Markets written by Colin Robinson and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Utility Regulation in Competitive Markets is the latest book in the annual series published in association with the Institute of Economic Affairs and the London Business School, which critically reviews the state of utility regulation and competition policy. This significant new volume contains incisive chapters on a number of prominent concerns, including changes in the British system of utility regulation, the spectrum allocation question, liberalization of EU energy markets, security of supply issues, reform in the European postal sector, the future of rail regulation, the cost of capital and Ofcom¿s strategic approach to regulation. Chapters on each topic are followed by comments from regulators, competition authority chairmen and other experts in the relevant fields. By confronting the most important international developments in utility regulation, the authors offer practical policy recommendations for an effective way forward. This book will be of great value to practitioners, policymakers and academics alike who are concerned with regulation, deregulation and policies to promote competition.
Download or read book Priorities for investment in the railways written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-02-15 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Incorporating HC 1056, session 2008-09
