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A ‘short term’ approach to railway infrastructure procurement is increasing costs, delaying completion and holding back investment and innovation, according to a new report from the Competition and Markets Authority.

There has been concern for years about the costs of building new or restored railways, which has often been focused on the cost of HS2.

The CMA carried out a market study over 11 months into the costs of procurement for both rail and road, and is now recommending a ‘more strategic and co-ordinated approach’, which could help to reduce the costs of other projects as well. One element is ‘multi-year funding’, as well as better planning of projects which would encourage competition and also action to cope with skills shortages.

CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said: ‘Our work on civil engineering shows that a short term and fragmented approach to procurement in road and rail is driving up costs, slowing delivery and holding back innovation.

‘This is an opportunity for systemic change – but it requires strong central coordination, and a reframing of road and rail procurement as a lever for growth and innovation. The CMA will continue to play its part, bringing independent advice, analysis and practical solutions to drive economic growth.’

Readers’ comments

It seemed at the time that the biggest fault with the franchising system was its relative short termism. There was a CMA report in around 2016 regarding these sort of problems,

David C. Smith, Bletchley

[One of the problems, perhaps. There were others, including micro-management by the DfT and the inevitable fragmentation of services.--Ed.]

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