We welcome the provision made in the Railways Bill for a Long Term Rail Strategy: it is long past time that such a vision is set out for the railways. The Strategy must provide a basis for consensus and certainty about long- term investment priorities. If it puts in place stable scaffolding for practical plans and pipelines, the LTRS has the potential to insulate those plans from unnecessary changes of direction or delay, to convey confidence to industry and to bring improvements to the netwo...

We welcome the provision made in the Railways Bill for a Long Term Rail Strategy: it is long past time that such a vision is set out for the railways. The Strategy must provide a basis for consensus and certainty about long- term investment priorities. If it puts in place stable scaffolding for practical plans and pipelines, the LTRS has the potential to insulate those plans from unnecessary changes of direction or delay, to convey confidence to industry and to bring improvements to the network forward more efficiently. (Recommendation, Paragraph 110) Type: conclusion | Number: 22 | Response status: accepted Government response: Agree The Government agrees that there should be a Long-Term Rail Strategy (LTRS) which sets out a clear and coherent framework for the role of rail over the next 30 years. The LTRS will articulate: • the outcomes rail is expected to support across economic growth, connectivity, decarbonisation and