In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK government’s Department for Transport (DfT) took emergency measures that resulted in a complete overhaul of passenger rail franchise agreements on Britain’s railways. Direx Solutions, in association with Jacobs, is actively involved in shaping the future of UK rail by supporting DfT in its Rail Reform programme to deliver the best possible customer experience on any UK train journey.

Our subject matter experts are working with DfT and Jacobs project teams to deliver an enhanced journey experience for customers in the future, along with the best value for money for taxpayers. The scope of the project has involved creation of a new set of rules and standards for all future rail operations, based on lessons learnt from current UK train operations and worldwide best practice and benchmarking.

This first-of-a-kind reform programme includes the development of mechanisms to analyse costs whilst incentivising the best collaborative behaviours with potential operators and market entry.