THE OFFICE of Rail and Road (ORR) urged Network Rail to put an end to its dependency on French and German signalling system providers Alstom and Siemens.

The regulator urged the railway body to transform its approach to procuring and delivering signalling processes, widening its pool of suppliers to foster competitiveness. "There are more than 40,000 signals on the mainline network, with 65 per cent of these needing to be renewed within the next 15 years - and essentially there are only two main players in the GB market for major signalling projects, namely Siemens and Alstom, who account for over 90 per cent of Network Rail's major signalling spend," said ORR's chief executive John Larkinson.

"Our recommendations set out how Network Rail can reduce reliance on the dominant suppliers, and make the market more attractive to potential new suppliers by increasing suppliers' confidence in the market and reducing costs."

The UK's signalling market is valued between £800m and £900m per year, with the market expected to grow exponentially given the vast modernisation programme that is under way. The spend represents around 10 per cent of Network Rail's entire cost base.

A market study undertaken by the ORR published in May this year suggested that the average costs for a "signalling equivalent unit" was around £412,000 between 2014 and 2019, with the goal to use new digital signalling products to bring that price down to around £190,000.

"Our analysis... consistently found that average prices were lower when projects were competitively tendered as opposed to directly awarded to framework holders," the study read.

The watchdog has given Network Rail three months to set out a "strategy and plan" to increase competition in the signalling market.

The efforts come alongside a digital transformation of the railway - with around 65 per cent of signalling equipment needing replacement and upgrading in the next fifteen years, according to the trade body the Railway Industry Association.

The trade body's technical director David Clarke said the digital transition plan "sets out a good strategy for the roll out of digital signalling, but it is yet to be funded, leaving rail suppliers uncertain as to whether it will go ahead."

(c) 2021 City A.M., source Newspaper