Last year we reported on Great British Railways (GBR) and the hope that this new body would provide sense to UK rail fares and scheduling.

Certainly the UK has the most complex rail fares in the whole of Europe. Some will claim that it has the highest fares but that depends on the train company, day and time of travel and so on.

GBR had been scheduled to launch at its new location in 2024.

There has been endless speculation about where GBR would be located, with dozens of suggestions. These were whittled down to six cities: Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle and York. Derby had been tipped as one of the favourites.

Rail author Christian Wolmar tweeted on Wednesday that GBR will not now happen in the life of the current Parliament.

The Derby Telegraph also reported that the plans for the city to host the headquarters had  been dropped.

Readers ought not to be surprised at this development as no UK government has made transport a priority.

One need only look at the inaction over the current rail industrial action or Heathrow’s third runway to see what I mean.

Whether or not GBR is revived will depend on the result of the next election (whenever that might take place).