Railfuture

The government is to give local powers for tap-and-go contactless travel. However, it must first set national objectives and standards, or this will lead to balkanisation of integrated ticketing, with different systems in each devolved authority area. gov.uk/government/new…

We had a Parliamentary Reception today to launch ‘A Growth Opportunity for Railways’. Read on at railfuture.org.uk/Social-Media-3… - and/or read our paper at railfuture.org.uk/display4276 Our thanks to @catkinson80 MP for hosting and our President Christian Woolmar for presiding.

Railfuture has been campaigning since 2018 for the Northern cities to be combined into a single strategic economic entity linked by a fast, high capacity rail network to realise the economic potential of the region as Britain’s Northern Powerhouse.

Railfuture welcomes today's government announcement of plans to develop Northern Powerhouse Rail in three phases, building on the TransPennine Route Upgrade between Leeds and Manchester which is in progress. #Government_sets_out_plans_for_Northern_Powerhouse_Rail" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">railfuture.org.uk/Northern-power…

Tap and go payment for rail travellers arrives at 20 stations near London this Sunday - read why using it may be the expensive choice (and what you can do to reduce your costs): railfuture.org.uk/display4218

Railfuture welcomes the plan in today's budget to introduce Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED), a new mileage charge for electric and plug-in hybrid cars. We are less content with the decision to extend the fuel duty cut. lnkd.in/e3vE7G53

Railfuture was interviewed by the BBC in connection with today's fare freeze announcement - see that interview and read our "we welcome ... but" commentary at railfuture.org.uk/Media-update-2…

Railfuture welcomes today's news that there will be more passenger services on East West Rail and also the arrival of Cambridge East station. Read on at railfuture.org.uk/display4184

The Railways Bill will establish Great British Railways with the tools and authority it needs to make the railway deliver for passengers, freight and taxpayers but it is worrying that many politicians think that the job will be done when the law is passed. railfuture.org.uk/article1925

House building must be sustainable, by being served by rail. All but one of the first 12 ‘new towns’ is already rail-served or the subject of rail proposals. Strategic planning, integrating land use with transport planning, is necessary to identify more. railfuture.org.uk/article1924

Register your support for one of Railfuture's campaigns to receive our quarterly Chair's column by email, reviewing our campaigns and the state of the railway. railfuture.org.uk/support

We were pleased to rail related investment in today's Government announcement. Read on for the detail and what we hope to see in imminent announcements: railfuture.org.uk/article1921

The expected U-turn on Personal Independence Payment benefits will cost the government approximately £2Bn per year. The Treasury loses the same amount each year through the 'temporary' 5p cut to fuel duty introduced in March 2022. Fuel duty hits the more affluent not the poorest

A day of two halves for us, so we have: 1) Thoughts on today's Spending review (...The devil will be in the detail ..): railfuture.org.uk/Media-comment-… 2) Commentary on Eurostar's plans for services to Germany and Switzerland: railfuture.org.uk/Press-release-…

Railfuture on Rachel Reeve's 'Biggest ever investment in city region local transport' .. Public transport as sustainable and sociable transport - especially rail whether mainline or light rail - is the great economic enabler and lifestyle liberator.. linkedin.com/posts/railfutu…

See more at railfuture.org.uk/article1919-SW…

We're expecting the unveiling of the first GBR liveried train today. Director Mike Southgate commented "On Sunday, all that is going to happen is that SWR will have a new shareholder ... Read on at: linkedin.com/posts/railfutu…

And its not just about travel to/from London and the South East - this will be a national destination, indeed international as will be just one change of train from Paris, Brussels et al.

Read our views on tomorrow's Spring Statement from the Government. They're on LinkedIn, due to message length limits here: linkedin.com/posts/railfutu…

Railfuture on telly: BBC One tomorrow, Morning Live between 9.30 and 10.45 will feature Railfuture and no doubt Dennis Fancett too, talking about reopenings. It was recorded before the good news about Portishead.