Rail's long-term success is driven in the short-term

Today started with a good conversation on the future of hydrogen, drawing insight from 30+ people at our regular Steer Research & Innovation Club. Back at my desk, I read with interest today's announcement from Network Rail about its hunt for a provider of renewable energy for the next 25 years.

Hydrogen is a power source with applications already emerging, including from mobility, industrial plants, and local energy for developments. My conclusion from today's discussion was that there is still much to do to resolve the infrastructure challenges to create sustainable green hydrogen and encourage its use. A long-term solution probably, but with immediate in-roads to development thanks to the Government's 2021 hydrogen road map.

Why start with a hydrogen illustration if this article is about rail? 

It struck me, for a number of reasons, about the ambition and long-term nature of the UK's railways. As rail reform navigates its path with the new Prime Minister and Cabinet, there will be much to discuss:

• How progressive and risk-taking will Great British Railways (GBR) be? It is expected that it will pick up the direction of travel from Network Rail in some areas, but will it have the necessary freedom to innovate and collaborate on new approaches, some of which may not always be entirely successful? How will it best demonstrate to decision makers that it has both the agility of entrepreneurship and the ability to manage public funds to its best effect?
• Railway systems are expensive long-term assets to create and operate. They can offer remarkable value in the right context, but that value is generally generated over the medium to longer term as communities and markets start to experience the competitive advantage that they offer. Take a look at how HS1's domestic services have helped to support communities in Kent and patronage has grown after a rocky first few years - "In the six years since 2010-11, demand on domestic high-speed services has almost doubled, increasing by 93% (or 12% per year) to 15 million." ("Delivering for Kent: The Economic Impact of HS1" - Steer report for High Speed 1).
• The long-term relationships that railways have with the communities they serve, in which they reside and recruit from, are vital to ensure the railways are practically supported and influenced by those communities. Will Great British Railways have sufficient bandwidth, flexibility, and ambition to partner with the thousands of communities across our island? We previously estimated that around 89% of the population is within a 20-minute cycle ride of a station, and 8% live near a railway line but are more than 5km from a station. That calls for a strength in capability engagement from GBR and its operators.
• Our railway helps our economy and can both be a catalyst for change in our evolving economic system as we continue to emerge from Brexit and the pandemic. It can adopt new technologies, offer new connectivity and try new ways of working that will best secure long-term taxpayer support.  

Whilst the assets, innovations, and benefits call for longer term thinking, the need to grasp the appetite and creativity of what the railways can and should be about is in the short-term. Network Rail's announcement today is a bold one and it shouldn't be last bold statement for the railway.

Network Rail is searching for a provider of renewable energy to provide between 0.5TWh and 1TWh annually for the next 25 years in a contract worth up to £1.25bn. The UK’s rail operator is one of the largest purchasers of electricity in the UK, consuming circa 4.5TWh per year – 4.1TWh of which is for traction.

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