The report considers the measures taken by the Government to address the problems in the railway service and concludes that both short-term and long-term measures need to be taken urgently to put the industry right. They recommend that: 1) new long-term franchises should be awarded without delay, with a properly enforced system of penalties and incentives to ensure train operating companies improve performance; 2) a new and more constructive working relationship needs to be developed between the Government and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), which must be made into an effective body; 3) Railtrack's successor should be taken out of administration by October 2002 at the very latest and must be adequately funded. The report highlights the need for clarity between those responsible for rail infrastructure and train operation, and calls for consideration of the role of the SRA in relation to the maintenance, renewal and development of the rail network. The funding proposed in the Government's 10 Year Plan is found to be inadequate because the modernisation work will require very large sums of public money.