Great British Railways Launches Consultation on New Policy to Govern UK Rail Access and Capacity

On September 9, 2026, Network Rail formally launched a 12-week industry consultation on the Access and Use Policy (AUP) that will govern how the forthcoming Great British Railways (GBR) allocates track capacity across the country. The publication of these draft documents marks the practical beginning of the transition toward 1 unified regulatory framework for Britain's rail network, replacing a complex system that has operated through fragmented layers of legislation, regulation, and individual contracts for the past 30 years. By establishing the rules of engagement before GBR acquires its statutory powers, the consultation aims to provide the rail industry with a clear roadmap for how decisions regarding passenger and freight services will be made in the future. The move represents a critical step in turning the legislative principles of the Railways Bill into operational reality, setting the stage for the most significant overhaul of UK rail governance since privatization.[3][4]

The consultation covers an extensive and highly technical suite of 6 primary proposed contractual document types that will form the legal backbone of the new railway structure. At the center is the core Access and Use Policy, which outlines the high-level criteria for decision-making. Supporting this policy are 3 model forms of track access contracts tailored specifically for public passenger operators, freight companies, and open-access providers. The package also includes the GBR Station Code, model forms of Station Access Agreements with station-specific annexes, and the GBR Depot Code. Together, these documents will dictate the commercial and operational relationships between the central infrastructure manager and the various entities that run trains on the network. Industry stakeholders have until December 2, 2026, to review and respond to the proposed terms, ensuring the final contracts are robust enough to handle the daily complexities of a heavily congested network.[4]

Under the newly proposed framework, Great British Railways will act as the 1 "directing mind" for the entire railway, bringing decisions about passenger and freight access together under a single integrated leadership structure. For 3 decades, the separation of track and train meant that capacity allocation was often a negotiated, and sometimes adversarial, process between Network Rail and individual train operating companies. The new policy seeks to establish a transparent, consistent process for determining which services can use the network, balancing pure economic value with broader social benefits and the strategic direction of the national transport system. By taking a whole-system view, GBR intends to optimize network use in ways that the current fragmented structure simply cannot accommodate, ultimately delivering better reliability and performance for end users.[1][3]

Anit Chandarana, Group Director of System Operator at Network Rail, stated that the existing access and charging framework is no longer fit for purpose. "Our aim is simple: to continue to make fair, transparent and consistent decisions about access to the railway, so we make the best possible use of the network for passengers, freight customers and taxpayers," Chandarana said. He noted that the current system, which has grown over 30 years through layers of legislation and codes, "too often encourages different parts of the railway to take decisions in isolation." The new policy is explicitly designed to ensure that capacity decisions are made fairly and that the assessment criteria apply equally to GBR's own contracted passenger services and those operated by 3rd-party providers.[3]

A major structural shift introduced in the consultation is the concept of a new Capacity Plan, which will fundamentally change how space on the network is reserved. Instead of allocating specific train paths exclusively to individual operators on a 1-to-1 basis, the Capacity Plan will allocate network space to 2 broad categories of services—passenger and freight. This shift is particularly intended to provide greater long-term visibility and confidence for the freight sector. It aligns directly with GBR's statutory duties to promote the carriage of goods by rail and to support the ambitious freight growth targets set by the government, ensuring that freight paths are protected even as passenger demand fluctuates.[4]

By streamlining the access process and removing layers of bureaucratic friction, the policy aims to reduce the overall financial burden on taxpayers and make the UK rail sector more attractive to private investors. A more predictable and transparent charging framework is expected to lower the barriers to entry for new open-access operators and freight logistics companies. Furthermore, the unified approach is designed to better integrate national rail services with local and regional transport schemes. By linking up more effectively with projects managed by devolved administrations and mayoral authorities, GBR hopes to ensure that capacity allocation directly supports local economic growth and that communities are better served by their rail connections.[2][3]

The current draft of the Access and Use Policy does not emerge from a vacuum; it builds directly on an initial discussion document that Network Rail published in December 2025. Over the intervening 9 months, the proposals have been refined through extensive prior engagement with government departments, industry regulators, and a wide range of stakeholders, including infrastructure managers and regional transport bodies. This iterative approach was chosen to handle the massive scale of the change carefully and openly, ensuring that the industry had ample opportunity to shape the foundational principles before the formal legal texts were drafted. The current 12-week window represents the final opportunity for the sector to influence the exact wording of the contracts before they become binding.[3][4]

As the consultation progresses toward its December deadline, industry stakeholders—particularly freight operators and open-access passenger companies—will spend the coming weeks heavily scrutinizing the proposed model contracts. Their primary objective will be to ensure that the new framework provides adequate, legally binding protections for 3rd parties against GBR's dual role as both the network manager and the primary passenger operator. Because GBR will inherently face internal pressures to prioritize its own services, the transparency mechanisms within the Access and Use Policy must be robust enough to guarantee competitive fairness. The success of the entire rail reform program hinges on whether the wider industry trusts this new framework to deliver on its promises of equity and efficiency.[1][4]