The Department for Transport has released updates on two of its recent railway evidence papers. 

Current railway models (Great Britain and overseas) reviews the operating structures of the railway in Great Britain, and makes key comparisons with rail sectors in other countries. 

A background paper, ‘Current railway models (Great Britain and overseas): country summaries’, has now also been published. This paper sets out additional high-level information on the organisation of rail sectors in several countries across Europe and beyond. The paper was prepared on behalf of the Williams Rail Review by a third party. Whilst the information it contains is accurate to the best of our knowledge, third parties should not rely on it as a comprehensive assessment of the rail systems concerned but should where necessary contact the relevant national authorities.

In addition, The user experience of the railway in Great Britain, an evidence paper exploring the user experience of the railway in Great Britain, has also been updated alongside the recently published Trust in the rail sector report, on research with rail users and members of the public undertaken by Britain Thinks on behalf of the Williams Rail Review.

These are part of a series of evidence papers that will:

• inform the debate around the Rail Review
• set out the factual evidence base on which the review will build its recommendations