The RIA Parliamentary Reception was held on the 13th January 2026. We attended once again and met up with the great and good of the UK rail supply chain. Darren Caplan (Chief Exec of the Railway Industry Association) kicked things off by talking about the struggles some of the supply chain face with the lack of spending by Network Rail during CP7.
However, some of the people I spoke to (the MD of a leading railway maintenance company) said that business was booming for them, so it appears that it’s not all doom and gloom. Plus, we have Northern Powerhouse Rail, which the government has promised will drive the biggest travel upgrade in the North in a generation.
The highlight of the event was my favourite living railwayman, Lord Peter Hendy, who ripped up his script and spoke about what he knows best… delivering a better railway for the country. He thanked the supply industry and then went on to speak about how GBR will bring the rolling stock and power together. Lord Hendy then recalled that when he was the Commissioner for Transport for London (2006-15), he operated within three time scales.
- Day-to-day: they fixed what was needed as soon as possible
- Annually: financial planning for the costs of running the railway
- 5-10 years: working with the Mayor of London’s long-term vision for TfL.
Lord Hendy went on to say that Network Rail doesn’t have the long-term vision, directed by one person, that TfL was subject to, and he suggested it should. Well, I wonder, maybe that’s another job he can do himself now he is the Minister of State for Rail!
