The UK's Railway Industry Association, which represents suppliers and experts, has called on the London government to urgently publish a Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) plan.
The organisation said such a plan should be published each year to give confidence to the sector and to ensure investment remains attractive.
The last RNEP was published by the previous administration in Downing St in 2019 along with a commitment (since broken) to publish updates annually.
RIA Chief Executive Darren Caplan explained the need for sight of such a plan.
“Suppliers need visibility of the Government’s future plans to invest with confidence. Five years is a long time to have no visible pipeline for rail enhancements not least because roughly $2bn per year of taxpayer money was allocated for these rail projects."
Along with Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, who is directly responsible for any forthcoming RNEP, Caplan suggested Finance Minister (officially known as Chancellor of the Exchequer) Rachel Reeves should include such plans in her upcoming annual budget.
"The upcoming Budget on 30 October is a good opportunity to announce what the future approach to providing clarity will be, including whether the RNEP process will be discontinued by the new government."
Caplan went on to suggest that railway improvement works could dry up without suppliers' understanding of the trajectory of the central government plans.
“RIA member companies and many in the wider UK supply sector are reporting concerns about uncertainty and hiatus around work pipelines and continue to raise the lack of clarity on enhancements as a key issue. So we strongly urge the new Government to set out a long-term plan for enhancements, to enable rail suppliers around the country to plan their resources and investments, and ultimately deliver best value for money for the taxpayer when it comes to taking these schemes forward.”
Caplan added: “Positively, we are encouraged by Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood’s statement in response to a Parliamentary question on the RNEP that the Government plans to create a more ‘unified system for the railways’. We welcome the new Government continuing to fund major projects such as HS2 Phase 1, and Transport Secretary Louise Haigh’s commitment in early October to end the 'boom and bust' approach to rail manufacturing by delivering a long-term industrial strategy for rolling stock.
"We now ask the Government to publish further details of how bringing infrastructure and services closer together will deliver benefits for both the railway industry and for passengers, freight customers and taxpayers,” he said.
This is far from the first time the RIA has asked Westminster for an update to the RNEP.
The last public approach to Westminster came in March 2024, when the Conservative government of Rishi Sunak claimed to be "reviewing" the RNEP.
