Fares, rail policy and DfT news

NAO criticisms of HS2 are ‘out of date’ - DfT

17.05.13: The Government has rejected the NAO report published yesterday which criticised the business case for HS2, as it publishes a draft Environmental Statement confirming major new stretches of tunnelling for the high-speed line. The NAO identif...

Railtex 2013 opens its doors

30.04.13: Rail minister Simon Burns MP has marked Railtex 2013 officially open. Ahead of his keynote speech at 11.50, the minister called it an “important exhibition” and noted that in a digital age, face-to-face meetings were vital. He s...

Railcards and advance fares boost market share

29.04.13: Rail’s market share of 10 of the most popular domestic air routes in Britain has risen to 46% in the last year, up from 29% in 2006, according to new data from ATOC. The use of Railcard has risen by 93%, with senior Railcards up 145%...

Railway Package fails to address rail’s ‘real problems’ – MPs

23.04.13: The European Commission’s 4th Railway Package focuses too much on liberalising the railways at the expense of measures to improve cross-border freight and passenger services, the Transport Committee has warned. MPs broadly welcomed th...

Rail Delivery Group asks for industry support

19.04.13: The Rail Delivery Group has said it is “essential” that it gets support from the rest of the industry and the regulators if it is to achieve its aim of making the industry more efficient and meeting the unit costs savings challenge. ...

Passengers paying more for railway – ORR

18.04.13: The proportion of cost of the railway paid for by passengers is rising, new data from the ORR shows. The GB Rail Financial Information 2011-12 report puts the total cost of the railways at £11.61bn, up 2.9% on the previous year. Howev...

Print your tickets at home for Chiltern Railways

11.04.13: Chiltern Railways is introducing plain paper ticketing, to allow business customers to book and reserve seats with a ticket they can print off at home. Developed in partnership with Evolvi Rail Systems, the system allows passengers to book...

RDG associate membership open

03.04.13: The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) is now inviting applications for Associate Membership to the group. The RDG works to lead the industry on developing and issuing policies, strategies and promotion of their adoption across rail. Interested part...

Transport Scotland cuts fares across 275,000 journeys

03.04.13: Fares for 275,000 rail journeys are to be cut, Transport Scotland has announced. A new pricing structure developed with ScotRail aims to eliminate over 1,500 fare ‘anomalies’, reduce split-ticketing and make it almost always che...

Unions say TOCs are ‘intent on resurrecting Beeching’

27.03.13: Campaigners are holding protests today at 35 stations against planned cuts to services and staff. On the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Beeching report, unions are protesting against the 20,000 jobs they say are at risk, the clo...

ATOC welcomes ‘limited’ extra regulatory role for ORR

20.03.13: The Government and ORR have responded to Rail 2020, largely agreeing with the recommendations laid out by the Transport Select Committee. In the future the ORR, not the transport secretary, will be responsible for approving train operators&...

Rail boosts city growth – ATOC

18.03.13: Despite the recession, 14 cities have recorded double-digit growth in the number of rail journeys over the last five years, ATOC figures show. The ten cities that have seen the highest growth between 2008 and 2012 are outside the south east...

ORR reports record quarter for rail

15.03.13: There were more than 385 million passenger journeys in Q3 of 2012-13, the ORR has said. This is 14 million more than the same period last year and is the highest number of franchised passenger journeys in a third quarter since records began...

Cabinet secretary ‘very upset’ over role in West Coast mess – PM

14.03.13: Prime Minister David Cameron has said that cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood “feels let down by the Department for Transport” over the West Coast franchising debacle – and that he has been asking transport secretary Patrick McLo...

‘Super-peak’ fares hike plans scrapped

12.03.13: A proposal to bring in ‘super-peak’ fares to raise revenue and better manage demand – which appeared in the McNulty report – has been scrapped, DfT sources have briefed reporters. Passenger groups, unions and the Tra...