First train to Ashington
- Published Mon 16 of Dec, 2024 18:05 GMT - (0 Reads)Passenger rail service on the Northumberland Line between Newcastle and Ashington commenced on 15th December 2024, in large part due to campaigning by Dennis Fancett, chair of Railfuture-affiliated South East Northumberland Rail User Group. Dennis being interviewed at Ashington station for Sky News - photo by Jerry Alderson for Railfuture.
What passengers want
- Published Sat 02 of Nov, 2024 18:28 GMT - (0 Reads)The Transport Secretary has committed to improve the performance and reliability of rail services, ensuring the rail sector can operate effectively and become financially sustainable. Stewart Palmer, the former managing director of a train operator, explains what is required to achieve this. A poor passenger experience for Cross Country passengers at Banbury on a Saturday evening. Perhaps the passenger disturbance was due to the extreme overcrowding earlier in the day. The 1855 arrived at Southampton over an hour late, and the following 1955 was cancelled. Photo by Chris Page for Railfuture.
Contrasts at Innotrans
- Published Wed 09 of Oct, 2024 18:19 BST - (0 Reads)Railfuture Policy Director Ian Brown visits Innotrans, the rail supplier exhibition held in Berlin. Is the grass greener on the other side? Every photograph illustrates a current rail issue in Britain. Photo by the author.
Connectivity->opportunity
- Published Sat 21 of Sep, 2024 14:08 BST - (0 Reads)Railfuture Policy Director Ian Brown explains how the Midlands – North West Rail Link proposed by the Birmingham and Manchester mayors will catalyse economic growth. Shugborough Tunnel, the key bottleneck on the West Coast Main Line exposed by the cancellation of HS2 Phase 2. Image by Network Rail.
Agenda for Growth
- Published Mon 05 of Aug, 2024 14:59 BST - (0 Reads)In this briefing, Railfuture Policy Director Ian Brown explains the implications for rail campaigners of the bills identified in the King's Speech and subsequent statements to Parliament. "Heidi Alexander cycling in pop-up bike lane before becoming Transport Secretary. Image from @Heidi_Labour on Twitter."
All change for rail
- Published Fri 05 of Jul, 2024 17:34 BST - (0 Reads)The electorate has voted for change - it now expects to see real results for rail without delay. Rail reform must show measurable improvements before Labour's honeymoon period withers. With the new Ministerial team setting the tone and tempo the Department for Transport (DfT) must focus on progress and delivery, not process. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh pictured at Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe plant on 20 April 2024 before their election to office. PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo.
Rail Action Plan
- Published Sat 03 of Feb, 2024 18:24 GMT - (0 Reads)Railfuture advises any prospective government to follow this 10 point action plan, which has been presented to the shadow Rail Minister, Stephen Morgan, and offered to the other political parties.
Time is of the essence for rail. Photo of Waterloo station clock by Chris Page for Railfuture.
Time is of the essence for rail. Photo of Waterloo station clock by Chris Page for Railfuture.
Freight growth target
- Published Sat 03 of Feb, 2024 17:55 GMT - (0 Reads)Rail is the most environmentally sustainable form of transport, particularly for freight. The government's freight growth target of 75% by 2050 is no more than keeping pace with expected economic growth - so it is effectively a no-modal-share growth target. The most cost-effective way to achieve net zero carbon from transport is to set a target of at least doubling rail freight in the next 20 years. 92019 Dollands Moor to Daventry 4M38 Jaguar Land Rover Whitley (from Neuss, Nievenheim, Germany). Image by Train Photos, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.
The future of stations
- Published Fri 02 of Feb, 2024 17:51 GMT - (0 Reads)The Ticket Office closure consultation over the summer of 2023 showed the value passengers place on a properly staffed station, complete with the right facilities for those staff to meet passenger needs. A warm welcome greets passengers in Bicester Village's customer support lounge at the station that serves the shopping centre. Photo by Chris Page for Railfuture.
Keep HS2 options open
- Published Wed 31 of Jan, 2024 19:23 GMT - (0 Reads)The government must either proceed with HS2 Phase 2 or resolve the network pinch points exposed by the cancellation. If the discussions on privately funding phase 2 do not succeed, it is essential that options for the future are not closed for good so land must not be sold. The constraints must be mitigated - as an absolute minimum the Euston terminus and the delta junction east of Birmingham must go ahead. Sign installed at Crewe station, the planned destination for HS2 when phase 2 approved, was still in place after cancellation. Photo by Chris Page for Railfuture.
Road user charging
- Published Tue 30 of Jan, 2024 17:09 GMT - (0 Reads)Opportunity, not threat. Railfuture suggests that there is a way of making road user charging politically acceptable. Appropriate branding for an HGV. Photo by Richard Says under <creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/> via Flickr.
Journey reliability
- Published Fri 05 of Jan, 2024 18:27 GMT - (0 Reads)Transport Focus, the non -departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Transport, regularly surveys passenger satisfaction and says “Satisfaction with punctuality/reliability is, by a distance, the most important driver of satisfaction...”
Photo taken by Stewart Palmer on 5th January at Dorchester South station. If train operators cannot display up-to-date information, what trust can passengers have in service reliability? Would M&S tolerate this?
Photo taken by Stewart Palmer on 5th January at Dorchester South station. If train operators cannot display up-to-date information, what trust can passengers have in service reliability? Would M&S tolerate this?
HS2 Phase 2 cancellation
- Published Wed 04 of Oct, 2023 17:57 BST - (0 Reads)The Prime Minister announced his decision on HS2 on 4 October 2023, the last day of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, held at Manchester Central, ironically Manchester’s former Central station which hosted the prestige Midland Pullman train from Manchester to London. This is a factual briefing and will be updated when more is revealed on timescales and funding. Blue Pullman at Manchester Central in the sixties, from disusedstations.org.uk.
Keep the London Travelcard
- Published Thu 11 of May, 2023 08:20 BST - (0 Reads)Railfuture sets out its views on why removing the London Travelcard product, and, in all likelihood, the related National Rail Travelcard add-on product is a very bad idea, and recommends action you can take.
Bradshaw address briefing
- Published Wed 08 of Feb, 2023 19:51 GMT - (0 Reads)The Rt Hon Mark Harper MP, Transport Secretary, gave an address at the Institute of Civil Engineers in London on 7 February 2023 in what was billed as the big announcement on Great British Railways. Photo via gov.uk.
Stormy forecast for rail
- Published Fri 06 of Jan, 2023 18:25 GMT - (0 Reads)Pete Myers, formerly Stakeholder Manager for Northern Rail and now a director of Railfuture, forecasts a potentially stormy year for our railway in 2023. Passengers moving fast at Leeds station.
The 2023 Fare Rise and Deckchairs
- Published Fri 23 of Dec, 2022 21:41 GMT - (0 Reads)We’re pleased that tthe 2023 rail fare increases will be in line with earnings increases, not inflation, so announced as 5.9%.
But this is rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. The service currently being offered to passengers simply isn’t value for money, even when there isn’t industrial action. Too many cancellations, a focus on cost, not the bottom line, so ignoring that most of the railways’ funding comes from passengers and that the service offered needs to meet their needs if revenue is to grow image from WikiPedia
But this is rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. The service currently being offered to passengers simply isn’t value for money, even when there isn’t industrial action. Too many cancellations, a focus on cost, not the bottom line, so ignoring that most of the railways’ funding comes from passengers and that the service offered needs to meet their needs if revenue is to grow image from WikiPedia
Stop this madness
- Published Mon 12 of Dec, 2022 18:40 GMT - (0 Reads)Who can stop the RMT strike madness? Railfuture’s Policy Director comments on the failure of the RMT union and the government to reach a settlement that enables a successful, viable future for rail. Strike day at Paddington – trains going nowhere. Photo by Roger Blake for Railfuture.
More on Ticket Offices
- Published Wed 30 of Nov, 2022 10:15 GMT - (0 Reads)The ticket office has been part of the Railway since the start. But now 7 in 8 people buy their ticket in other ways – online, from ticket vending machines – or use Pay as You Go (PAYG). Those 1 in 8 passengers though still need to be looked after properly - Railfuture strongly believes that in-person ticket selling continues to be essential. That doesn't have to be from behind a ticket office window though. Ticket Office staff should be redeployed to other areas of the station and take on a wider role assisting passengers - as well as continuing to sell tickets. Effort is also needed to improve and extend online selling, TVM functionality and coverage and to Pay as You Go. We believe this needs to happen before there are wholescale closures of ticket offices. Image by author.
Open Access
- Published Sun 13 of Nov, 2022 21:38 GMT - (0 Reads)Railfuture director and vice-president Stewart Palmer, who has and worked in the rail industry for 38 years, puts Railfuture's view on open access passenger operation in Britain. Lumo has shown that rail can attract more passengers and increase revenue if it offers simple high-value product, but not all open access operations have been or will be successful. Lumo class 803 train at Edinburgh. Image by MrBoyt reproduced under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Railfuture’s campaigns, opinions and successes are often reported by the press and media, see Railfuture in the news.