Trams would benefit the historic heart of Oxford

Transport consultants Dr Nicholas Falk and Reg Harman look to Europe and the US and argue that the
UK city of Oxford should have a transport system more like its ‘twin’, Grenoble.
Photograph: Grenoble, by Reg Harman. Trams on lines A and B mix with people in the heart of the city.

Speak up to stop us becoming rail’s forgotten region. Join Railfuture!

Buried in the budget papers today is the statement that the government will provide £100,000 for a further study into reopening the Lewes to Uckfield rail line. This is a major success for our campaign - we will work to steer the scope of the study to capture all the potential benefits.

There is a practical pro-rail initiative in Norfolk which has long been in preparation and which is now making serious progress.

The Cambridge Guided Busway scheme opened in 2011 (costing almost twice as much as planned and nearly three years late) uses the former track-bed of two rail routes either side of Cambridge. The photos above, taken from a document produced for Cambs County council by Capita shows the poor state of the busway, after only three years of use, which could cost £30m to repair. Even the bus stops are not cared for (photo Jerry Alderson). Is this really something we want more of?

Railfuture travelled on the first Javelin, glimpsed at Hastings on Friday with Amber Rudd and Rail Minister Claire Perry, to celebrate progress towards electrification of Marshlink and a high speed service between Bexhill, Hastings, Rye, Ashford and London St Pancras.

On the last day of the consultation period for the Network Rail Sussex Route Study Railfuture joined with local parliamentary candidates, councillors and rail campaigners in a Rail Rally at Crowborough station to press for better services and more investment for the Uckfield line.