Railways Bill — Written evidence: Letter submitted by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester (RB18)

Via emailscrutiny@parliament.uk

19 January 2026 Ref: AB/DJ

Dear Bill Committee Members,

Greater Manchester Combined AuthorityParliamentary Bill Committee Call for
Evidence Railways Bill Response

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) welcomes the introduction of the
Railways Bill. I am pleased to support the provision of written evidence to inform the
committee’s scrutiny of the Bill and I look forward to giving oral evidence to set out what I
see as essential legislative changes needed to ensure Great British Railways (GBR)
delivers for Greater Manchester and other Mayoral Authorities.

More broadly, the proposed changes align with ensuring that GBR is established in a
way that provides meaningful benefits to Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs).

Our evidence focuses on making certain terminology more specific. Ultimately, this will
enable a robust partnership under a reformed railway to flourish, with mutual accountability
for GBR and MSAs that delivers for all, putting place-based decisions and customer needs
at its core . With statutory roles for MSAs being an integral driver for rail reform and
devolution being successful, it’s important that the legislation underpins this and realises
the partnership approach suggested to MSAs through early working with Shadow GBR .
The Bill should be consistent with this partnership approach.

In December 2025, following collaboration with the Department for Transport and our local
rail industry partners, GMCA launched On the Right Track for Growth: A 2050 vision for
the future of rail in Greater Manchester.

Our vision recognises the potential – and increasingly the need – to place r ailways in
service of economic and social growth, articulating public transport’s critical role in driving
prosperity. Heavy rail in Greater Manchester is a vital part of the Bee Network, as we
integrate it with other modes, providing a world-class public transport network in the city
region that enables people to access education, employment, and leisure opportunities
right across Greater Manchester

Rail in Greater Manchester also has the potential to enable regenerationwe are piloting
a new approach to transport-led regeneration in Ashton and Stalybridge by integrating rail
services which serve those growing towns into the Bee Network by the end of 2026, with
more lines to follow by 2028.

For too long, my region’s railways have been marked by unreliable services, poor
resilience, and creaking, outdated infrastructure that has led to low passenger confidence
and satisfaction. Too many of our stations remain inaccessible t o disabled and elderly
passengers, an unacceptable situation. I therefore seek the government’s commitment to

devolving Access for All funding, empowering local leaders to determine priorities and
accelerate the delivery of much-needed station accessibility improvements.

We support the government’s commitment to reverse this decline . The Railways Bill
proposals for MSAs to set local rail strategies and reform of the rail system through the
establishment of GBR as a single directing mind is welcomed.

However, t o fully realise our ambitions for rail to be a driver of regional and national
economic growth, we need to secure both a strong statutory role of MSAs, and the ability
to hold GBR to account for delivering city-region commissioned services. These
requirements are currently ambiguous and vague in the legislation , with some critical
factors missing.

Mayors are responsible for driving forward economic growth and increasing opportunity
for the people, communities, and businesses in our places. Devolution to date has
provided us some of the tools needed to enable growth – but for rail to fully play its part
we need to replace a consultative role with one which sees mayors making decisions on
the specification and commissioning of outputs alongside the industry, e nshrined in
legislation.

I am clear that to see long term improvements to the railway, there must be a widespread
cultural change in the industry: we must restore a public service ethos to the railways.

In Greater Manchester, we are starting to witness a transformation of our bus network.
Since we took over specifying bus services, standards and performance requirements in
January 2025, we have seen significant rises in service punctuality, reliability, customer
satisfaction, and patronage. I am in no doubt that local accountability secured through
devolution has been key to this improvement.

To deliver a similar transformation on the railways there must be clear provisions on GBR
that support unlocking growth, including alignment with local strategies and priorities. The
needs of different places across the network must be embedded in long-term planning to
ensure rail plays its role in driving forward our ambitions.

I look forward to working constructively with all parties as the Railways Bill progresses
through Parliament, ensuring that the legislation meets the needs and expectations of the
people we serve. Once the bill has become law, I know that Greater Manchester will work
in lockstep with GBR and the new passenger watchdog to drive continuous improvement
and create a better railway for everyone.

Best wishes,

Andy Burnham
Mayor of Greater Manchester