Railways Bill

Transport Committee Open Inquiry
Opened: 5 Nov 2025 Parliament page
The Government has introduced the Railways Bill to Parliament to legislate for its commitment to unify network operations with infrastructure management under a single organisation – Great British Railways. The Bill is expected to go through ‘line by line’ scrutiny by a Public Bill Committee, which is separate to the … Read more
22 Recommendations
11 Conclusions
1 Report
4 Oral sessions
5 Letters
4 Events
Activity timeline 15 events
24 Apr
2026
Report published
10 Feb
2026
Report published
28 Jan
2026
Correspondence
7 Jan
2026
Oral evidence
7 Jan
2026
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
17 Dec
2025
Oral evidence
17 Dec
2025
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
10 Dec
2025
Oral evidence
10 Dec
2025
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
4 Dec
2025
Correspondence
26 Nov
2025
Oral evidence
26 Nov
2025
Correspondence
Oral evidence sessions 4 sessions
7 Jan 2026
View on parliament.uk
Jeremy Westlake · Network Rail Lucy Ryan · Department for Transport Richard Goodman · Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities The Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE · Department for Transport
17 Dec 2025
View on parliament.uk
Bill Reeve · Transport Scotland Fiona Hyslop MSP · The Scottish Government Jamie Ross · Liverpool City Region Jason Prince · Urban Transport Group Mal Drury-Rose · West Midlands Rail Executive Peter McDonald · The Welsh Government
10 Dec 2025
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Alex Campbell · Transport Focus Alex Robertson · Transport Focus Anthony Smith · Independent Rail Retailers Ben Plowden · Campaign for Better Transport David Pitt · SilverRail Technologies UK Ltd Emma Vogelmann · Transport for All John Davies · Trainline Sue Sharp · Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee
26 Nov 2025
View on parliament.uk
John Larkinson · Office of Rail and Road Maggie Simpson OBE · Rail Freight Group Nick Brooks · AllRail Stephanie Tobyn · Office of Rail and Road Steve Montgomery · FirstRail
Title HC No. Published Items Response
8th Report - Railways Bill HC 1472 10 Feb 2026 33 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
1 result
Clear
11 Recommendation Deferred
8th Report - Railways Bill
Publish an initial draft of Great British Railways' licence before Bill's Report Stage.
We welcome the Government’s original commitment to publishing the draft GBR licence before the Bill leaves the House of Commons. We urge the Government to publish at least an initial draft of GBR’s licence before the Bill’s Report Stage so … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees that the Passengers’ Council must be a robust, independent voice and recognises the important role the Chair will have. As the recommendation is not legislative in nature, the government will continue to consider it as part of the ongoing design process and will write to the committee to provide a final response in the coming weeks.
Department for Transport
View details
Government Response AI assessment · 33 of 22 classified
Accepted 4
Accepted in Part 14
Acknowledged 6
Deferred 1
Not Addressed 3
Rejected 5
Total 22 recs + 11 conclusions
Correspondence 5 letters
28 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from the Minister for Rail, Department for Transport relating to the Railways Bill, dated 21 January 2026
Parliament page
4 Dec 2025 To committee Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, Welsh Government relating to the Railways Bill, dated 26 November 2025
Parliament page
26 Nov 2025 To committee Letter from the Leader of the House relating to the passage and scrutiny of the Railways Bill, dated 11 November 2025
Parliament page
12 Nov 2025 To committee Letter from the Secretary of State for Transport relating to the introduction of the Railways Bill, dated 5 November 2025
Parliament page
30 Oct 2025 To committee Letter from the Chair of the Committee to the Leader of the House relating to the Rail Reform Bill, dated 28 October 2025
Parliament page