It seems to me, sir, that the mention of a specific standard, if done right and if people know what the objective is, might help the discussion. But as I say, I think you have to go for a performance-based regime rather than a prescriptive regime that says how to get there. In other words, tell the railway that this is their target and they should figure out a way to meet it. That is the basic stance I would take. This is from a lot of observation of how these things work out.
On October 31st, 2006. See this statement in context.