Rail

Rail only accounts for just over one per cent of carbon emissions from transport and for every £1 spent on the rail network, £2.50 is delivered in the wider economy.

But in recent years, the railways have come under pressure from changing work and travel patterns and a ticketing system which has not kept pace with passengers’ needs.

• Fares continue to rise, pricing people on lower incomes off the railways
• An estimated 55 million different types of train ticket make it hard to know when you’re getting the best deal
• Overcrowding is a problem, with too many people paying thousands of pounds to stand in aisles, vestibules and even toilet cubicles
• Too many trains are delayed or cancelled
• Important rail electrification schemes have been halted
• Too many people live out of reach of a rail station and too many large population centres are not connected to the rail network.

To address some of these problems, the Government is bringing passenger rail services back under public control after almost three decades of privatisation. The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 will bring track and trains together under the control of a new public body, Great British Railways. This new body will also be responsible for fares and ticketing reforms. You can read more about the Government’s plans and what it could mean for passengers in our Rail Reform Explainer.

We want to see a reliable, affordable rail network which is accessible to everyone, no matter where you live. To achieve this, we need:

• Fairer, simpler, more affordable ticketing
• To invest in better stations, track and rolling stock and reduce overcrowding
• Ensure train services match the timetable and when there are delays it should be simple for passengers to get compensation
• A rolling programme of rail electrification to make rail even greener and meet the UK government’s target to remove all diesel-only trains from the rail network by 2040, as part of a wider plan to decarbonise the rail network and achieve net zero emissions by 2050
• More rail lines and stations to connect more people to the railways with a national programme of reopenings.

A fare future for rail

The fares and ticketing arrangements on our railway today are over-complicated and unfair. With more than a third of people (35 per cent) finding rail fares complicated and confusing, and an estimated 55 million different types of tickets available, the ticketing system is long overdue for reform. Our report, A fare future for rail: A blueprint for fares and ticketing reform, untangles rail fares, and offers a clear blueprint for creating better value, simpler ticketing, easier booking and a fairer system.

Reopening lines and stations

Reopening rail lines across the country would go a long way to improving public transport and tackling overcrowding. We want to see a national expansion programme to reopen an initial 33 priority lines and stations to bring half a million people within walking distance of a train station and allow an additional 20 million passengers journeys a year on the network.