Railfuture campaigns for satisfied passengers!
The rail industry must focus on delivering the best journey experience for all travellers. Rail services must be more welcoming, frequent, reliable, connected, convenient, clean, comfortable, secure and above all reasonably priced.
Good customer service costs nothing, but needs well motivated staff.
Satisfied passengers will travel by rail again, increasing rail revenue, reducing the cost of the railways to the taxpayer and so enabling cheaper fares. Get it right and the rail industry will contribute to economic growth.
Is GatEx right for Gatwick?
- Published Thu 21 of Aug, 2025 17:54 BST - (0 Reads)Gatwick Airport served 41m passengers in 2024 and proposes expansion to 75m by 2030. Permission for this expansion is linked to achieving 54% of air passengers using public transport to access the airport. However, usage of Gatwick Express services has now dropped to 25% of journeys to Victoria and only 12% of journeys to London Zone 1. Is the current format of Gatwick Express the right solution for an expanded Gatwick Airport? Lightly loaded Gatwick Express at Victoria August 2025 - photo by Charlie King for Railfuture.
SWR – same or better
- Published Sun 25 of May, 2025 18:28 BST - (0 Reads)On Sunday 25 May 2025 all that happened is that South Western Railway now has a new shareholder - and it’s the DfT who have effectively been dictating many policies to SWR since the pandemic. New Great British Railways livery unveiled by Transport Secretary on 22 May.
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.
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.
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?
Ticket offices reprieved
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.
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.
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.
Everyone loses
- Published Thu 23 of Jun, 2022 18:50 BST - (0 Reads)The rail strikes this week are bad for everyone. Some trains ran, including on Island Line where rail staff voted against a strike. Photo by Chris Page for Railfuture.
Fares
Short sighted rail companies shooting themselves in the foot
Multifranchise disservice
- Published Sun 10 of Mar, 2019 12:29 GMT - (4057 Reads)In the first of a series focusing on individual topics raised by the Railfuture response to the Williams review, South East Northumberland Rail User Group (SENRUG) chair Dennis Fancett highlights the lack of a coordinated timetable on routes served by multiple train operators. Arriva Cross Country and East Coast (now LNER) trains at Newcastle Central - photo by Russel Wills reproduced under Creative Commons.
Railfuture’s message is USE IT OR LOSE IT! Our online guide for rail passengers is at Rail user help.
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