• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

How effective is RailFuture?

Status
Not open for further replies.

D6130

Established Member
Joined
12 Jan 2021
Messages
5,652
Location
West Yorkshire/Tuscany
Following-on from a question posed in the now-closed thread about the reopening of Reston station, I would like to open this to general discussion. (Full disclosure: I am a member of RailFuture's European Passenger Group and have been for the last two-and-a-half years....although we have been unable to meet in person since February 2020, for obvious reasons).
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Joined
13 Feb 2011
Messages
1,056
Location
Cardiff
I was a member in Wales for around three years and apart from responding to Welsh Govt consultations and giving evidence to an Assembly (now Senedd) committee and the odd press quote (when asked) the branch did very little, no proactive campaigns, no membership building etc.

Lots of talking though.
 

zwk500

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Jan 2020
Messages
13,227
Location
Bristol
I think it depends on how you define “effective”.
Well I suppose a fair place to start is what Railfuture claim to be their goals: https://www.railfuture.org.uk/About-us
Railfuture is the UK's leading independent organisation campaigning for better rail services for passengers and freight.

And then to look at what they claim as their successful campaings: https://www.railfuture.org.uk/Our-successes. In particular, they claim to have "helped" reopen 950km of new routes and over 400 stations since 1960.
 

D6130

Established Member
Joined
12 Jan 2021
Messages
5,652
Location
West Yorkshire/Tuscany
As a fairly recent member of Railfuture (formerly named 'Transport 2000', I believe), my impressions are that - like a lot of other campaigning organisations - their successes and failures vary depending on the amount of work and commitment that individual members in different branches are prepared to put in. One of my fellow European Passenger Group members is also chair of SENRAG - South East Northumberland Rail Action Group - and I know for a fact that he and his fellow committee members have put in a huge amount of their own time campaigning and lobbying local councillors, MPs, Network Rail, the Rail Development Group and Northern towards the reopening of the Newcastle-Ashington line....which is now, hopefully, coming to fruition. I'm also aware that Railfuture Scotland has been very actively campaigning in recent years for the reopening not only of Reston, East Linton, Dalcross and Kintore stations, but also for line reopenings to Tweedbank, Levenmouth, St Andrews, Ellon and Alloa-Dunfermline. Fair enough, there must be some branches in other areas of the UK which are less active but, behind all the talk there is a lot of hard campaigning work by dedicated volunteers in their own time. The Rf European Passenger Group is chaired by a very dedicated and experienced ex-CEO of a major UK rail passenger franchise who has a lot of high-level contacts in the rail industry both in the UK and in Europe. Our major campaigning effort at the moment is to try and persuade Eurostar to improve their passenger experience, with particular reference to the provision of through ticketing on both sides of the channel and improving connectivity and co-operation with national rail networks on the continent. At the same time, lesser campaigns are ongoing, such as trying to persuade TOCs to provide multi-lingual signage (including in Chinese) at stations which are either 'gateway' points - such as those at airports or ferry ports - or major tourist destinations, such as Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Stratford-on-Avon, York, Edinburgh, Inverness, etc. However it is acknowledged that since Brexit there has been a huge downturn in tourism from continental Europe, which may take many years to recover.
 

Essexman

Established Member
Joined
15 Mar 2011
Messages
1,380
Railfuture was formerly The Railway Development Society (RDS).
Same organisation just a new name.

The RDS was formed in the 1970s by a merger between the Railway Invigoration Society (RIS) and Railway Development Association (RDA).

My father was for many years chair of the RIS then RDS.

I’m a member of Railfuture but not active.

They hold a lot of local and national members meetings and generally campaign behind the scenes, meeting with relevant authorities etc. They have been active on pushing for re-openings and in their previous form were very active fighting closures, sometimes with success, sometimes not.

Transport 2000 is now named The Campaign for Better Transport.
 

Kingham West

Member
Joined
17 Oct 2017
Messages
110
Railfuture is pretty effective behind the scenes, and enjoys a lot of support ( unlike the 70s and 80s when it’s ideas we’re dismissed as Mad ), and it must be remembered it is voluntary, but megaphone deplomacy does not really work , now, so much lobbying just remains unknown to most , and to the detriment of recruitment of new members .
However the best work is supporting user and reopening groups , without their lobbying and helping councils and MPs see the light , would we be looking at Oxford -Cambridge reopening, Portishead reopening Pershore Station in 1978, the list goes on . it is up to groups and individuals to push schemes .
In other European countries they have transport plans, in the UK we have volunteers lobbying.
Amazing Really .
 

jimm

Established Member
Joined
6 Apr 2012
Messages
5,230
However the best work is supporting user and reopening groups , without their lobbying and helping councils and MPs see the light , would we be looking at Oxford -Cambridge reopening, Portishead reopening Pershore Station in 1978, the list goes on . it is up to groups and individuals to push schemes .
In other European countries they have transport plans, in the UK we have volunteers lobbying.
Amazing Really .
No idea why you suggest that Pershore station was reopened in 1978 - it never closed.

Are you confusing it with Honeybourne? And the bulk of the lobbying for reopening there was done by the Cotswold Line Promotion Group and local residents.
 

jimm

Established Member
Joined
6 Apr 2012
Messages
5,230
The service was increased in 1978, I think it was slated for closure in 1976

The initial service 'increase' at Pershore, taking it from one train each way a day (allowing for a commute into and out of Worcester) to two, happened in 1975. Calls by Saturday trains to/from London were added in 1979.

- Source, Evesham Pershore 150, by Julian Palfrey and Steve Widdowson, published by the CLPG in 2002. The only closure proposal for Pershore mentioned in this booklet was the one turned down in 1969, when the Worcester-Stratford upon Avon service was withdrawn and Honeybourne closed.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top