The West Midlands is desperately underfunded for transport - that was the overwhelming consensus of the mayoral candidates who met on Thursday 6th April 2017 to debate the region's transport needs. The five major parties were represented at a public debate organised by Railfuture and Friends of the Earth.

On 2 March 2017 the government published the long-awaited London and South Coast Rail Corridor study report. News headlines portrayed this as the death knell of a second main line to London, but in fact the study points the way forward for reopening between Uckfield and Lewes, and a new route between Stratford and East Croydon via Docklands. The diagram, taken from the report, shows the new approach recommended to justify re-opening Uckfield – Lewes.

A personal view from Railfuture vice-president Peter Rayner.Photo: A crowded train at Gretna Green in August 2016.

Radical fare changes proposed by the Rail Delivery Group risk reducing choice and flexibility for passengers. What is needed are clearly explained fares which offer choice, not simplistic ticketing which removes flexibility. In London, the adjacent termini of St Pancras and King’s Cross offer alternative routes to Sheffield, giving holders of ‘any permitted route’ tickets the flexibility to choose either.

Investment in new rail infrastructure is essential to provide extra capacity to deal with increasing passenger numbers and promote economic growth. However Network Rail has maxed out its capacity and budget for rail enhancements because the lack of skilled and experienced rail engineers has driven up NR costs, so the government is looking for innovative ways to finance, resource and share risk on more new rail infrastructure projects than Network Rail can handle. The government has given East West Rail the green light, whilst two other potential privately-financed projects, Heathrow Southern Railway and London and Southern Counties Railway, are also vying for government attention.

Britain needs to invest in its transport infrastructure to promote economic growth, but further electrification delays show that Network Rail does not have the capability to deliver its expansion programme in the timescale needed. Railfuture analyses the cause of the problems at Network Rail and suggests a way forward.

Railfuture urges the Chancellor of the Exchequer to commit the government in next week’s Autumn Statement to a long-term investment programme which will:

• deliver improved connectivity for London’s growing economic hub in Docklands and for the UK’s second largest airport at Gatwick, and
• meet continually growing travel demand between London, Gatwick and the south coast.

Images by: F10 Studios - F10 Studios, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11514176>; Roger Bamber via Alamy ; S nova, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons.

The future of the Waterside Line in the South of England is once again under the spotlight, as freight traffic to Fawley refinery ceases and the Hythe ferry comes under renewed threat of closure. Marchwood station. Photo by Stuart George for Railfuture.

Railfuture affiliated local group SENRUG (The South East Northumberland Rail User Group) are leading the campaign to re-introduce passenger services on the Ashington, Blyth and Tyne route which is a working freight line. On 11th October 2016 Northumberland County Council agreed to proceed to GRIP 3, setting out an ambitious timescale and saying trains could be running by early 2021.

In October 2016 a plaque commemorating Asquith Xavier, an accidental campaigner who overturned a colour bar at Euston 50 years ago, was unveiled at Euston station by his family.

InterRail just got better this year – could it be even better in 2017 to celebrate its 45th anniversary? Photo: U-Bahn station, by Nigel Perkins.

There were many objections to HS1 when it was being planned, but it now carries 80% of London – Paris travellers, whilst domestic HS1 services are full and standing during peak hours. The success of HS1 has lessons for HS2, on which construction is planned to start in 2017. Javelin domestic HS1 train at St Pancras. Photo by Ed Webster, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.