News and Views
Privatisation punch
Published At: Mon 23 of Sep, 2019 22:15 BST - (2795 Reads)|
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Levenmouth on track
Published At: Fri 09 of Aug, 2019 12:40 BST - (4300 Reads)|
On 8 August 2019 the Scottish Transport Secretary, during his visit to Levenmouth, announced the green light for reopening the rail line to Levenmouth to passenger services, with an estimated cost of £75m. It's great news for this long running saga, which will benefit a deprived area of Fife. Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity Michael Matheson on the mothballed track - photo by Transport Scotland.
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Britain back into rail
Published At: Thu 08 of Aug, 2019 16:40 BST - (2245 Reads)|
On Wednesday 7 August 2019 Britain’s Rail Delivery Group (RDG) announced that it would be withdrawing from membership of the highly-valued and long-standing Interrail Europe-wide rail passes for European residents, along with the Eurail equivalent for non-European residents. Protests were loud and clear, many on Twitter. A day later the RDG backed down. Railfuture looks at what happened and why. |
First step to Berwick
Published At: Thu 30 of May, 2019 18:17 BST - (3932 Reads)|
SENRUG, the Railfuture-affiliated rail user group that campaigns for better rail services in South and East Northumberland, has secured funding for a feasibility study which will look at the possibility of running a local rail service between Morpeth and Berwick. Could local trains soon be running over Berwick’s Royal Borders Bridge? Photo (adapted) by Clive Nicholson / Steve Miller.
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Rails back to Brierley Hill
Published At: Mon 13 of May, 2019 22:04 BST - (3968 Reads)|
Railfuture welcomes the news that funding has been secured to extend the Midland Metro from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill. The metro will serve Dudley Zoo and Castle – image by Midland Metro Alliance.
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Money for Portishead
Published At: Wed 17 of Apr, 2019 22:59 BST - (4653 Reads)|
After a long hard campaign by Railfuture and affiliated groups, the government has stumped up the extra £32m needed to reopen the railway line to Portishead. New Portishead station as proposed in 2015. Image by North Somerset Council.
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Electric alternatives
Published At: Sun 07 of Apr, 2019 18:40 BST - (6490 Reads)|
The government cut electrification projects in favour of alternative technologies for rail traction but in response to the Transport Select Committee, the Rail Industry Association has published the Electrification Cost Challenge report showing that electrification costs could be cut by more than 50%. This briefing explains how the alternatives stack up. Proposed hydrogen-powered "Breeze" conversion of class 321. Image by Alstom.
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Balkan bustitution
Published At: Thu 28 of Mar, 2019 20:31 GMT - (3077 Reads)|
In the latest of our Go and Compare series, Ian Brown takes a bus from Zagreb to Ljubljana and compares it with the rail alternative, then travels from Ljubljana to Trieste by train and compares it with the bus alternative. The competition - the Flixbus on the properly signed stand on arrival at Ljubljana, going through to Florence arriving late the same evening.
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Welborne station campaign
Published At: Wed 20 of Mar, 2019 20:14 GMT - (3337 Reads)|
Railfuture Wessex continues to campaign for a railway station at Welborne near Fareham at the site earmarked for 6,000 new homes. A single platform station could be built at Welborne at economical cost on the single track railway line.
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Multifranchise disservice
Published At: Sun 10 of Mar, 2019 12:29 GMT - (2937 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.
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University challenge
Published At: Sat 09 of Mar, 2019 17:45 GMT - (2911 Reads)|
Railfuture was delighted to sponsor the very interesting and successful 2019 Transport Masters Prize Award Presentation awards evening event at the University of the West Of England (UWE) with Railfuture's Honorary President Christian Wolmar proving to be the 'top entertainment'. Photo: from left, Professor Graham Parkhurst (Director of UWE’s Centre for Transport and Society), Christian Wolmar (Railfuture President), Wendy Thorne (Railfuture director), and Professor John Parkin CEng FICE FCIHT FCILT (Professor of Transport Engineering and Deputy Director, Centre for Transport and Society UWE).
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Williams Rail Review
Published At: Fri 18 of Jan, 2019 13:43 GMT - (4836 Reads)|
Railfuture has submitted its initial response to the Williams Rail Review, with the theme of incentivising the rail industry to work efficiently on behalf of its customers. These passengers at Euston want to feel that the industry cares for them, and that disruption is a rarity rather than the norm. Photo Network Rail.
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London-Amsterdam review
Published At: Sun 13 of Jan, 2019 22:00 GMT - (2659 Reads)|
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Commuter stress
Published At: Sun 13 of Jan, 2019 22:00 GMT - (2920 Reads)|
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Blueprint for the North
Published At: Fri 11 of Jan, 2019 13:22 GMT - (5093 Reads)
The initial strategic challengeRailfuture Policy Director Ian Brown contends that rail cannot make any meaningful contribution to growing the North’s economy, or even realise the benefits of new rolling stock and services about to be delivered, without investment in core routes and core stations to enable a further doubling of journeys over the next 15 years. Crowds on the only two through platforms at Manchester Piccadilly demonstrate the need for investment in extra capacity linking Chester, Liverpool, Preston, Manchester, Sheffield, Bradford, Leeds and Hull – photo by Maria Whelan, from Twitter. |
Ticket gateline furore
Published At: Mon 07 of Jan, 2019 13:49 GMT - (3304 Reads)|
New ticket gates cause a furore in Portsmouth. Portsmouth Harbour gateline: pass down to the end and turn left to access the ferry terminal.
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Rail Challenge 2019
Published At: Tue 01 of Jan, 2019 00:01 GMT - (6172 Reads)|
Signal interlocking, whether mechanical or computerised, underpins public trust in the safety of the railway. But the industry has lost public trust in its service delivery, with the ongoing industrial dispute and the timetable fiasco. Image Network Rail. Railfuture challenges the rail industry and government to rebuild that trust in 2019 by fulfilling ten customer demands.
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Good will response
Published At: Mon 24 of Dec, 2018 13:47 GMT - (2576 Reads)|
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Boxing Day let-down
Published At: Tue 18 of Dec, 2018 22:22 GMT - (2604 Reads)|
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Go and Compare Athens
Published At: Mon 17 of Dec, 2018 16:16 GMT - (4212 Reads)|
Athens is a great city to visit and travel around. Despite the debt crisis but stimulated earlier by the 2004 Olympics the city has an excellent transport system with innovation precipitated by the lack of finance. We can learn from this for the Rail Review. The Athens card is all mode and comes as a contactless ticket for single journeys and day tickets and longer periods. Note the pictogram of modes available and the Metro showing at a lower level. It includes bike parking.
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Railfuture’s campaigns, opinions and successes are often reported by the press and media, see Railfuture in the news.
