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Rail User Groups

Railfuture encourages all rail users to join their local Rail User Group, which represents users' interests to the local train operating company to improve services and stations in their area. If there is no rail user group locally, Railfuture can help you to set one up! Rail user groups have their own national monthly newsletter Rail User Express produced by Railfuture.

Many rail user groups are affiliated to Railfuture, which provides a forum in which they can exchange ideas and experiences, co-ordinate rail development priorities, and contribute to the case for better rail services locally and nationally. Railfuture can help affiliated groups and campaigns to work together to achieve common goals and can provide support through our Fighting Fund. Two presentations given by Railfuture director Stewart Palmer (formerly MD with South West Trains) at our Summer 2018 conference on Lobbying train operators successfully and Building relationships with train operators show how Railfuture can help rail user groups to campaign more effectively.

Even if their RUG is affiliated, we welcome RUG members to also join Railfuture to campaign for wider national rail issues.

The following list all known rail user groups (RUGs) and rail reopening campaign groups (RoCs) throughout Britain, in alphabetical order or by Railfuture branch area:
Inclusion on the lists above does not imply unqualified endorsement by Railfuture. The formal relationship between Railfuture and affiliated organisations such as rail user groups is governed by Articles 3-13 in our Memorandum and Articles of Association, viewable here. Affiliated groups are listed in the table below.

Railway Club Directory
Railfuture member Richard Bowry has developed a Railway Club Directory of around 200 entries, promoting the interests of:
(1) National railway societies and clubs
(2) Specialised national railway societies
(3) Historical railway societies
(4) Local railway clubs
(5) UK based international railway societies.

Rail User Group Awards

The often-unsung successes of Rail User Groups were recognised and rewarded for the very first time on the national stage in Railfuture's inaugural 2012 RUG Awards, and again in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
There were no Awards in 2019 owing to a re-scheduling of Railfuture's national events, and none in 2020 or 2021 due to the disruptive effects of the pandemic. The revived Rail User Group Awards were presented after the Annual General Meeting near Bristol in July 2022, and again after the 2023 AGM in London. Presentation of the Awards in 2024 is planned for Saturday 13 July, again following the national AGM which this year is to be held in Edinburgh.
The RUG Awards page brings all our more detailed coverage together, and the monthly Rail User Express carries updates.

Affiliated user and campaign groups

Devon & Cornwall ACE Rail campaign (Bideford-Exeter via Barnstaple)
Ashburton Rail Users' Group
Avocet Line Rail Users' Group (ALRUG)
Combe Rail (Taw Link - Barnstaple-Braunton light rail)
Connect Bude
North Devon Line - Rail Promotion Group (formerly Tarka Rail Association)
Salisbury-Exeter Rail Users' Group (SERUG)
Torbay Rail Users Group (TRUG) - email
East Anglia East Suffolk Travel Association (ESTA)
Fen Line Users Association (FLUA)
Meldreth, Shepreth & Foxton Rail User Group
Mid Anglia Rail Passengers' Association (MARPA)
Walton on the Naze, Frinton on Sea, Kirby Cross & Thorpe le Soken Rail Users’ Association (ONTRACK)
Wisbech Rail Reopening Campaign
East Midlands Campaign to Re-Open The Ivanhoe Line (CRIL)
Manchester & East Midlands Rail Action Partnership (MEMRAP)
Narborough Station, Friends of (FONS)
Lincolnshire Friends of the Barton Line (FoBL)
South East Lincolnshire Travellers’ Association
London & South East Abbey Flyer Users' Group (ABFLY)
Association of Public Transport Users (APTU) (Thameslink North)
Bedford Commuters' Association (BCA)
British Regional Transport Association (BRTA)
Cambridge Heath and London Fields Rail Users’ Group (CHLFRUG)
Cooksbridge Station Partnership
East Surrey Transport Committee (ESTC) - email
Edenbridge & District Rail Travellers’ Association (EDRTA) - email
Hadley Wood Rail User Group (HaWRUG)
Hatfield Association of Rail Travellers (HART) - email
Marsh Link Action Group (MLAG)
Marylebone Travellers' Association (MTA) - email
Ore Transport Group (OTG) - email
Plumstead and Woolwich Rail Users' Group (PAWRUG)
Reigate, Redhill & District Rail Users' Association (RRDRUA)
Sevenoaks Rail Travellers Association (SRTA)
Tonbridge Line Commuters (TLC)
Watford Rail Users Group (WRUG) - email
North East Esk Valley Railway Development Co.
Saltburn Line User Group (SLUG)
South East Northumberland Rail Users Group (SENRUG)
North West Blackpool and Fylde Rail Users’ Association
Bolton Rail Users' Group
Chinley & Buxworth Transport Group
Denton Station, Friends of (Twitter @fodentonstation)
Furness Line Action Group (FLAG)
Goyt Valley Rail Users’ Association (Stockport)
Hope Valley Railway Users' Group
Lakes Line Rail User Group
Lancaster and Skipton Rail Users’ Group (LASRUG) - the Bentham Line
Lancaster, Morecambe & District Rail User Group
Littleborough Stations (Lancashire), Friends of
Mid-Cheshire Rail Users Association (MCRUA)
North Cheshire Rail Users’ Group (NCRUG)
Ormskirk, Preston & Southport Travellers’ Association (OPSTA)
Reddish South Station, Friends of
Ribble Valley Rail
Rose Hill (and Marple) stations, Friends of
Settle - Carlisle Line, Friends of
Shrewsbury-Chester Rail Users’ Association (SCRUA)
Skipton & East Lancs Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP)
St. Anne's Stations, Friends of
Support the Oldham Rochdale Manchester line (STORM)
Wirral Transport Users’ Association
Wrexham-Bidston Rail Users’ Association
Scotland Beattock Station Action Group (reopening campaign)
Far North Line, Friends of
Rail Action Group East of Scotland (RAGES)
St. Andrews Rail Link (StARLink - reopening campaign)
Thornhill Train Station Action Group
Severnside Bridgwater Station, Friends of
Bristol Rail Campaign (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways)
Cotswold Line Promotion Group (CLPG)
Langport Transport Group (station campaign)
Minehead Rail Link Group
Portishead Railway Group (reopening campaign)
Saltford Station Campaign (reopening)
Trans Wilts Community Rail Partnership
Thames Valley Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group
Cotswold Line Promotion Group
Marlow-Maidenhead Passengers’ Association
Oxford-Bicester Rail Action Group (OBRAG)
Pewsey Vale Rail User Group
Witney-Oxford Transport Group (Windrush Line campaign - Oxford-Eynsham-Witney-Carterton)
Wales Heart of Wales Line Travellers’ Association
Magor Action Group on Rail (new station campaign)
Pembrokeshire Rail Travellers' Association
Wessex Basingstoke & District Railway Society
Isle of Wight Bus and Rail Users’ Group
Lymington-Brockenhurst Line, Friends of
Salisbury-Exeter Rail Users' Group (SERUG)
West Midlands Cam & Dursley Transportation Group
Cannock Chase Rail Promotion Group
Cotswold Line Promotion Group
Rail and Bus for Herefordshire
Lichfield Rail Promotion Group
North Staffs Rail Promotion Group
Rugby Rail Users’ Group
Shakespeare Line Promotion Group
Shrewsbury-Chester Rail Users’ Association (SCRUA)
Stourbridge Line User Group (SLUG)
Yorkshire Aire Valley Rail Users’ Group
Askern Railway Station, Friends of (reopening campaign)
Bradford Rail Users’ Group
Esk Valley Railway Development Co.
Halifax and District Rail Action Group (HADRAG)
Harrogate Line Supporters' Group
Harrogate Line Rail Users’ Group
Hope Valley Railway Users' Group
Huddersfield, Penistone and Sheffield Rail Users’ Association (HPSRUA)
Hunmanby Railway Station, Friends of
Minsters Rail Campaign (Beverley - Market Weighton - York reopening campaign)
Pontefract Civic Society (rail sub-group)
Selby and District Rail Users’ Group
Settle - Carlisle Line, Friends of
Skipton & East Lancs Rail Action Partnership (SELRAP)
Stalybridge-Huddersfield Rail Users' Group (SHRUG)
Upper Wensleydale Railway Association
Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership