RIA responds to House of Lord report on transport & Brexit

The House of Lords EU Internal Market Sub-committee has today published Brexit: road, rail and maritime transport report into the impact of Brexit on transport.

Damian Testa, Senior Policy Manager at the Railway Industry Association, responded to the report: "The Railway Industry Association gave both written and oral evidence to the House of Lords EU Internal Market Sub-committee for the report published today, and we take a strong interest in its findings.

"As the UK seeks to leave the EU, RIA and its members want to see trade with EU and non-EU countries as frictionless as possible, with technical standards as harmonised as possible, and which enables direct access to a skilled workforce.

"We also want to take advantage of future export and trade opportunities, meaning there needs to be strong visibility of rail in trade deal negotiations and a drive to take advantage of developing new markets around the world.

"We are pleased to see many of these key areas reflected in the Lords report, and look forward to working with the Government and Parliamentarians from across the political parties to ensure UK rail is ready in what are clearly uncertain times."

Notes to Editors

1. The report is available here
2. About RIA: The Railway Industry Association (RIA) is the voice of the UK rail supply community. We help to grow a sustainable, high-performing, railway supply industry, and to export UK rail expertise and products. We promote and represent our members’ interests to policy makers, clients and other stakeholders in the UK and overseas. RIA has 280+ companies in membership in a sector that contributes £36 billion in economic growth and £11 billion in tax revenue each year, as well as employing 600,000 people—more than the workforce of Birmingham. It is also a growing industry with the number of rail journeys expected to double over the next 25 years and freight set to grow significantly too. RIA’s membership is active across the whole of railway supply, covering a diverse range of products and services and including both multi-national companies and SMEs (60% by number). RIA works to promote the importance of the rail system to UK plc, to help export UK expertise around the globe and to share best practice and innovation across the industry