Evolutionary change? An evaluation of the McNulty report on rail

This article examines a major UK value-for-money study by Sir Roy McNulty in the context of the neoliberal public policy environment. This environment favoured rail's privatization, and subsequent reform attempts, which maintained the privatization model, have done little to address rail's fundamental problems. McNulty's proposals are examined in terms of their likely effects on the infrastructure authority and the train companies. The article concludes that, although McNulty correctly identified fragmentation as a key cause of rail's cost escalation, and noted the less fragmented nature of other European railways, its neoliberal focus meant that it missed the opportunity to reverse the process.