{"id":226710,"date":"2025-05-30T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=178053"},"modified":"2025-05-30T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T08:00:00","slug":"campaign-for-better-transport-publishes-its-seven-priorities-for-rail-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=226710","title":{"rendered":"Campaign for Better Transport publishes its seven priorities for rail reform"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/railuk.com\/rail-news\/campaign-for-better-transport-publishes-its-seven-priorities-for-rail-reform\/\" title=\"Campaign for Better Transport publishes its seven priorities for rail reform\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"485\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/29103203\/Campaign-for-better-transport-485x360.jpg\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"display: block; margin-bottom: 5px; clear:both;max-width: 100%;\" link_thumbnail=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/29103203\/Campaign-for-better-transport-485x360.jpg 485w, https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/29103203\/Campaign-for-better-transport-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 485px) 100vw, 485px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Campaign for Better Transport has published seven key priorities for making the Government\u2019s programme of rail reform a success.<\/p>\n<p>Ben Plowden, Campaign for Better Transport\u2019s chief executive, said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe creation of Great British Railways presents a unique opportunity to change how the rail system works \u2013 structurally, financially and operationally \u2013 to provide a better customer experience. But legislation alone will not be enough. The clear strategy proposed in the Government\u2019s recent consultation paper must follow. This must be grounded in long-term thinking, and focused on outcomes that matter to passengers, freight users and the public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Campaign for Better Transport\u2019s policy paper &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/bettertransport.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Track-changes-making-a-success-of-rail-reform-WEB.pdf\">Track changes: making a success of rail reform<\/a>&#8216; outlines seven key priorities for making the Government\u2019s programme of rail reform a success.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Create a strong foundation \u2013 The Government should legally establish Great British Railways through legislation as quickly as possible and then produce a clear timeline and governance plan to ensure a rapid and effective transition.<\/li>\n<li>Finance, funding and value \u2013 The Government should commit to growing rail passenger numbers and create multi-year funding settlements to support long-term planning, reduce project costs, and provide confidence to the supply chain.<\/li>\n<li>Passenger experience \u2013 To help improve things for passengers there needs to be better travel information, better onboard wifi connectivity and a national accessibility standard for the railway.<\/li>\n<li>Fares and ticketing \u2013 The Government should undertake a root-and-branch reform of fares and ticketing. This should be focused on consistency and affordability with a cap on long-distance fares and a freeze of the annual fare rise until reforms are implemented. To help rebuild passenger support for the railways, the Government should introduce more flexible and refundable ticket options, a \u2018Best Price Guarantee\u2019 and a national loyalty \u2018Rail Miles\u2019 scheme.<\/li>\n<li>Infrastructure and rolling stock \u2013 The Government should create a Whole Industry Strategic Plan so that the rail sector can plan effectively and reduce costs. It should prioritise capacity upgrades, fix bottlenecks and accelerate electrification across the network.<\/li>\n<li>Non GBR-services \u2013 The Government should support current and future Open Access services and enable Combined Authorities to run local services with long-term funding. To prevent a conflict of interest, independent regulation should be maintained by the Office of Rail and Road over access and charges.<\/li>\n<li>Rail freight \u2013 The Government should invest in rail freight infrastructure and create a fund for targeted electrification upgrades. Rail freight should be incentivised through lower charges and tax breaks, and given priority access on key corridors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ol>\n<p>Mr Plowden added: \u201cRail has the potential to underpin the UK\u2019s economic, environmental and societal ambitions by moving people and goods more efficiently, reducing emissions and connecting towns, cities and communities more effectively. But to realise this potential, we must quickly deliver what everyone in the rail sector wants &#8211; ending the cycle of short-term decision making and giving the railways the long-term clarity, consistent investment and strong leadership required to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Image credit: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/railuk.com\/rail-news\/campaign-for-better-transport-publishes-its-seven-priorities-for-rail-reform\/\" title=\"Campaign for Better Transport publishes its seven priorities for rail reform\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"485\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/29103203\/Campaign-for-better-transport-485x360.jpg\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image\" alt=\"\"><\/a>Campaign for Better Transport has published seven key priorities for making the Government\u2019s programme of rail reform a success. Ben Plowden, Campaign for Better Transport\u2019s chief executive, said: \u201cThe creation of Great British Railways presents a unique opportunity to change how the rail system works \u2013 structurally, financially and operationally \u2013 to provide a better [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16017,47,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","category-rail-news","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=226710"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226752,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226710\/revisions\/226752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=226710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=226710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=226710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}