Railfuture have linked with Campaign for Better Transport to deliver a letter to the Department of Transport calling for a Network Development Fund to pay for project development of realistic proposals for new and reopened stations and lines with the best projects joining a pool of national projects to be taken to full development and implementation. Photo: Railfuture media spokesman Bruce Williamson at the Department for Transport with the letter to hand in.

Railfuture has joined together with local people, rail planning experts and influential local business leaders to progress Wisbechrail through a new group they have set up called the Wisbech Consultative Group. This will harness peoples’ ideas about where the station should be, what facilities it should have and other issues to do with a new train service.

Chris Gibb’s independent report to the DfT on how the performance of the Govia Thameslink Railway franchise might be improved was published on 23 June 2017. Its recommendations include proposals that Railfuture already campaigns for, such as electrifying the Uckfield line. If these are implemented, then passengers could see an unprecedented improvement in rail services. This diagram, taken from the report, depicts the Southern system. At its heart are the passengers, who depend on all the other elements in the diagram for their train service. The light blue elements are the key ingredients that make the system work; the relationship between them is critical.

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.

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.

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.

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. Photo: Marchwood station

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.

While the west end of Gospel Oak-Barking line remains open during weekdays, Flying Scotsman passes Gospel Oak station on Friday 10 June 2016.

Phil Smart, a member of Railfuture and a councillor on Ipswich Borough Council (one of the founders of the ‘East-West Rail Consortium’ of local authorities) welcomes the announcement by Network Rail of the preferred corridor for the East West Rail Central Section, and the support of the National Infrastructure Commission. Photo: the new Addenbrookes station site, the only common point on the various route options.

The DfT took the opportunity of the official opening of the Thameslink traincare depot at Three Bridges last week to publish the Terms of Reference for the London and South Coast Rail Corridor Study, which will review the demand for rail travel and proposed rail schemes in the area between London and the South Coast. Keymer Junction (pictured) is the key constraint on the Brighton Main Line south of Three Bridges; Network Rail proposes quadruple track and a dive-under junction here to boost capacity. Alongside this study, local authorities must quantify the economic growth benefits which rail investment in the area would generate.

The Hastings Rother Taskforce presented the economic case for running high speed rail services to Rye, Hastings and Bexhill to a stakeholder group, including Railfuture, in Bexhill today.

Good news for Railfuture's aspiration to see Robin Hood Line services extended through Warsop and Edwinstowe to Ollerton, to serve proposed business parks on the site of the now-closed Thoresby Colliery near Edwinstowe, and Center Parcs near Ollerton.

HS2 Limited have recently published their fourth attempt at a plan for Euston station, with an increased cost, massive property demolition and more disruption over a longer timescale. However there is an alternative - Euston Express would provide the necessary capacity sooner whilst costing £1.5Bn to £2Bn less and avoiding significant disruption. (Image DfT.)

Consultants charged with proving the case for the MetroWest service to Henbury have settled for a simple turnback solution, failing to grasp the opportunities which a Henbury loop could create.

Mockup of new Lea Bridge station

Lancashire County Council is forging ahead with plans to connect Skelmersdale town centre to the rail network.

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.

Railfuture welcomes the reference in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement to the long overdue upgrade to services on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML), dubbed the ‘heritage line’ due to its 40 year old rolling stock!