Article

Customer, investment, delivery: Using a business mindset in a new age of passenger rail

The FRA CID Program is poised to revolutionize US passenger rail, offering a once-in-a-generation mobility transformation.

The Federal Railroad Administration Corridor Identification & Development (FRA CID) Program is set to transform passenger rail across the US, offering a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring about radical change in mobility choices for everyday Americans. 

Previously, we wrote about the benefits of adopting a business mindset that is agile, creative, and product-orientated in order to make the most of this opportunity. 

Forbes quote

A business without defined priorities is at risk of failing to serve both its funders and the consumers who are the revenue generators. The once-in-a-generation potential afforded by the FRA CID Program to create new infrastructure and connections is enormous, and the reality of designing and delivering on this potential will challenge the greatest of American minds. However, without customers, assets created during the capital phase are doomed to prove poor investments and worse businesses.

Compounding the broad possibilities of new infrastructure are the associated policy objectives of new rail developments. Hopeful contenders for funding must meet expectations to improve equity, improve economic connectivity and lower carbon emissions while maintaining a viable and sustainable service.

Rail needs to marry policy objectives with an astute business mindset in order to both financially sustain itself and provide a public good. This is no means feat but maintaining a focus on key priorities will help bring success to the rail renaissance sweeping the US. 

competitive edge

We think there are three focus areas for passenger rail to be successful – customer, investors and delivery.

focus areas for passenger rail to be successful

Focus on the customer 

Who is the passenger? This question forms the basis of the need to focus on the customer, and the answer comes in two parts, the markets (defined by where people live and work) and the customer segments (typified, for example, by their socio-demographic characteristics, their behaviors, preferences and attitudes).

A business study tests, evaluates and refines its offer to customers with difficult trade-offs, meaning one market or segment is served over another. Serving a passenger segment may mean making decisions about the capital assets and how they’re used, and at the same time, conscious decisions must be made about the customer offer, such as frequency, stopping patterns and on-board service choices. 

How will the customer base change as a new service matures or services are expanded or enhanced? What products can be offered, discontinued or built upon? What commercial opportunities could a new fleet offer and how will customers value those opportunities? Does the asset created in the present allow the service to meet those future customer expectations?

Maintaining a focus on the customer can help answer all these questions and boost all-important ticket sales for decades to come. 

Focus on investors 

Why invest in building a new asset or enhancing an existing service? A focus on investors will give insight into their goals and desired outcomes and help to inform how these can be aligned with future operations as the business evolves and adapts.

For passenger rail services, this challenge is arguably more complex and challenging to navigate than in a ‘typical’ business.  Political change may influence policy priorities, and funding obligations may be inconsistent with local objectives.  Rail services can be proposed to deliver a wide variety of outcomes ranging from helping to save the planet to decongesting roads and flight paths. 

A successful business listens intently to its investors (many with subtly different objectives of their own) and understands how their needs and constraints change over time, always demonstrating the evidence of its performance against their priorities. 

Focus on delivery 

It’s a certainty that, in business, challenges arise and risks materialize. It isn’t easy to achieve consistent and successful delivery, but it is imperative if the confidence of investors and consumers is not to be lost.

A focus on delivery is essential to show both why a business can be trusted to deliver a service and operate it and to convince investors why the business will deliver on brand expectations. 

From our experience, consistent operational delivery comes from a coherent delivery approach.  Discipline in the service plan, assessing capital, use of insights and data and risk identification and mitigation are all essential considerations to deliver successfully. Ultimately the question will be, is the organization equipped to deliver the service and customer experience that will result in planned ridership?

In our final article of this series, we will highlight how, in our opinion, business mindset is embedded within the FRA’s Corridor Identification program. Applying the three perspectives discussed in this article seeks to sharpen Service Development Plans (SDPs), make investment pitches to funders, garner political action/support and, above all, convince the people to ride it, ride it and ride it again!

Off

Subscribe to our newsletter, The Edit

We are Steer

Yes, you are in the right place. After 40 years, we have changed our name from Steer Davies Gleave to mark our growing international footprint and our expanding portfolio into sectors beyond transport.

Explore our new website to learn more about Steer: who we are, how we work and what our future holds.

Related insights

  • 17 Jul 2025
    Article

    Integration of ESG Criteria in Railway Development: A Commitment to the Energy Transition

    Maria Isabel Lopez Palacio
    Associate & Urban Transit Leader, LATAM
    María Alejandra Beetar Carrero
    Associate, Infrastructure Leader & Colombia Office Leader

    In a global context marked by the urgent need to address climate change and promote more sustainable development models, transport has

    Read more

  • 24 Jun 2025
    Article

    Steer supports launch of anti-harassment protocol for public transport in the state of Mexico

    Silvia Mejia Reza
    Associate & Planning Market Leader for Mexico

    Steer supported a new protocol to tackle sexual harassment on Mexibús, improving safety for users in the State of Mexico.

    Read more

  • 20 Jun 2025
    Article

    Does the comprehensive spending review offer overlooked opportunities for London?

    Edmund Cassidy
    Associate Director

    New funding offers London boroughs a chance to unlock long-term regeneration.

    Read more

  • 25 Apr 2025
    Article

    Beyond the Rails in Leeds: uncovering the city’s railway past and industrial heritage

    By Steer

    As part of Steer’s Beyond the Rails campaign, we recently joined local historian Clifford Stead for a two-hour walking tour through Leeds.

    Read more

  • 26 Jul 2024
    Article

    Moving US passenger rail forward: Using a business mindset within the FRA CID Program

    Mark Mukherji
    Vice President, Rail & Transit

    The FRA CID Program is a game-changing opportunity to revolutionize US rail mobility, reshaping travel nationwide.

    Read more

  • 19 Jul 2024
    Article

    How a business mindset can help sustain a successful railroad

    By Steer

    In the US, more than in any other country, the principle of private enterprise drives the delivery of services and products to consumers.

    Read more

  • 18 Jul 2024
    Article

    The King’s Speech: Our key takeaways on planning, transport and the energy transition

    By Steer

    King Charles sets out the new Labour Government’s legislative agenda which intends to ‘take the brakes off Britain’.

    Read more

  • 14 Dec 2023
    Article

    Station usage 2022-23 published

    By Steer

    Today the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has published the latest edition of the annual Estimates of station usage.

    Read more

  • 12 Oct 2022
    Article

    On the right track: Passenger rail in the US

    Mark Mukherji
    Vice President, Rail & Transit

    With unprecedented Federal funding opportunities available, now may be the point where world-class passenger rail becomes a reality.

    Read more

  • 31 May 2022
    Article

    Crossrail – it wasn’t quick or easy, but it is wonderful

    Adrian Cole
    Consulting Director
    Victoria Rees
    Associate Director

    As Crossrail completes its first week of passenger service, it's a good opportunity to reflect on the work that led to this milestone.

    Read more

  • 21 May 2021
    Article

    Rail in a post-COVID-19 world – is the White Paper vision fit for purpose?

    Simon Ellis
    Consulting Associate Director

    When the Government launched the Williams Rail Review in September 2018, Keith Williams already faced a daunting task.

    Read more

  • 06 Apr 2021
    Article

    Public sector support stimulus on mobility policy post-COVID in Italy

    Raffael Massa
    Raffael Massa
    Associate Director & Head of Financial Advisory, Italy

    New rules for public transport have impacted public mobility demand, leading people to reconsider the use of cars.

    Read more