Just published by DfT, a briefing paper for House of Lords called Long Term Rail Strategy

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6aaa782344ec1aa417346b36/proposals-for-long-term-rail-strategy.pdf

Plenty to discuss .......

LTRS maybe?

As set out in the Railways Bill factsheet on the Long-Term Rail Strategy, the LTRS will be
framed by the five long-term strategic objectives for the railway, developed following
extensive stakeholder engagement.

1. Catalysing long-term economic growth by:
• Reducing total journey time and cost for transport users, and enabling agglomeration benefits by better connecting labour markets
• Directly investing in rail people and their skills, innovation and digital infrastructure
• Facilitating home building and place-making and attracting investment to and within Britain

2. Ensuring rail is financially sustainable, efficient and value for money by:
• Reducing costs to government
• Ensuring a sustainable balance of fare/ fee and government funding
• Increasing the efficiency of operations, asset management and capital investment – delivering on time and on budget.

3. Reducing inequality and improving connectivity between communities by:
• Contributing to social benefits by improving connectivity
• Improving rail passenger and freight connectivity across Britain
• Supporting better integration of rail with local and regional multimodal transport systems

4. Meeting the needs of future passengers and freight customers by:
• Increasing value for money and improving the performance, reliability and convenience of rail
• Meeting multi-modal expectations and reducing end-to-end journey times
• Maintaining a safe railway as part of a safe transport system and significantly widening accessibility

5. Supporting government’s sustainability objectives by:
• Encouraging modal shift by increasing the attractiveness of rail
• Delivering rail net zero (traction and infrastructure) protecting biodiversity and addressing air pollution
• Protecting transport links by investing in climate adaptation

GBR will use detailed route-level analysis to determine the right level of electrification to support the removal of diesel traction. This will generally require around a quarter of the currently non-electrified railway to be energised

GBR’s future train orders will be structured around a small number of defined ‘fleet families’ specified to align to the main passenger markets

What passengers want is changing.  Reliability remains fundamental but passengers increasingly expect straightforward and independent boarding, clear information, digital connectivity, personal security and facilities suited to a wider range of journeys. The railway must serve an ageing and diverse population, support leisure and tourism as well as commuting and business travel and make train travel attractive enough to grow revenue and reduce reliance on subsidy.

Quite a lot of ideas and intentions (but no actual detail) of way forward

.....GBR will use detailed route-level analysis to determine the right level of electrification to support the removal of diesel traction. This will generally require around a quarter of the currently non-electrified railway to be energised.....

Standard 30 minute frequency, 5 car train, Swindon to Weymouth anyone, or just 2 through trains a week, 3 in summer, of 2 or 3 carriages each as it is at present?   That improvement in frequency and capacity would sure as heck make it attractive to increase revenue.   And it might be attractive enough to allow fares to rise. Even with higher fares, I doubt the extra cost would reduce subsidy needs.