Enhancing efficiency and sustainability in UK railways: A regional perspective

Post COVID-19, efficiency and sustainability has been seen as the key to unlocking a better performing, cost efficient way to run a business. The UK railway sector has evidently been working hard to keep up with the times by implementing changes being cultural, behavioural, and standards based to drive efficiency and sustainability into all things new and existing. The vast amount of assets on the railway are more than one can comprehend, and to make every single asset impenetrable from climate change is impossible so organisations need to work hard to prioritise and understand interdependencies where one solution may protect multiple assets. To support the physical solutions, theoretical and well thought out strategies need to be in place to guide organisations through the journey to efficient and sustainable practices, and it is a long-term process. The complex nature of the UK railway network requires careful consideration and well thought out strategies and action plans, which are in place and progressing at present. The progress varies between the regions, based on nature of the environment, usage, and investment as some are parts of the network are more advanced than others at present. This study outlines how the UK railway sector is driving improvement to efficiency and sustainability and approaches the many strategies with careful consideration and comparison to unravel potential areas of improvement and challenges to focus on.

Citation

Seabright, L., Renukappa, S., Suresh, S., Erriadi, W. et al. (2025) Enhancing efficiency and sustainability in UK railways: A regional perspective, Presented at Management Challenges, Business Opportunities and Disrupted Institutional Contexts, 39th British Academy of Management Conference, 1 – 5 September 2025, University of Kent, U.K

Type

Conference contribution

Language

en

Description

This is the accepted manuscript of a conference paper presented at Management Challenges, Business Opportunities and Disrupted Institutional Contexts, 39th British Academy of Management Conference, 1 – 5 September 2025, University of Kent, U.K. The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

cbn

Collections

Faculty of Science and Engineering