Rail Partners chief executive, Andy Bagnall, said:
‘Congratulations to Laura Shoaf on her appointment as Chair of Shadow Great British Railways. Rail Partners and its members want to work with Laura to ensure rail reform delivers the improvements for passengers and freight customers that we all want to see.
‘To change the railway for the better, we must correctly understand the causes of its current challenges. Train companies have been calling for the establishment of Great British Railways for many years to give greater public control but rushing to ban the use of contracted operators, before working out the details of wider reform, is a political decision that offers few practical benefits for passengers.’
Rail Partners exists to make the railway better by harnessing the expertise and creativity of private sector operators for the benefit of those who use the railway, passengers and freight customers, and those who pay for it, including taxpayers.
As well as offering advocacy and policy solutions for its private sector passenger owning group and freight company members, Rail Partners provides technical services to both private and public sector train operating companies through its Operator Services division.
