Rail Delivery Group – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Sunbelievable: enough tickets sold in rail sale to reach the sun

Runaway success: Great British Rail Sale sees more than 128 million miles of discounted journeys travelled on UK railways this spring.

Great British Rail Sale ends on a high with more than 1.3 million tickets sold
total tickets sold would cover a ticket journey to the sun – 128,250,000 miles
first of its kind sale offered big savings for travellers struggling with the cost of living

With more tickets sold than the entire population of Britain’s second-largest city, Birmingham, the Great British Rail Sale has been a runaway success. Through this first-of-its-kind sale, this spring will see over 128 million miles of discounted journeys travelled on UK railways.

This first-ever industry-wide sale saw more than one million rail tickets slashed by up to 50%, saving passengers over £7 million (or 15,000 years’ worth of takeaways). The total distance of the journeys sold would create a rail trip from the Earth to the sun and beyond, boldly going where no train has gone before.

The Great British Rail Sale was launched to help ease some of the pressure on family finances at a time when the cost of living is increasing for people in the UK and across the wider world.

The average price of tickets was around £7.50 during the sale and the most popular routes have been:

Newcastle to York
London to Nottingham
Oxford to London Paddington
London to Sheffield
Cambridge to London

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “The Great British Rail has been unprecedented in its scale, and equally unprecedented in its success.

“It has been fantastic to see so many of you jumping at the chance to head out onto our brilliant railway network, reconnecting with loved ones and exploring your favourite places across the country.

“The whole rail family has come together to help passengers facing rising costs of living by saving hard-working people millions on their journeys across Britain this spring.”

Jacqueline Starr, CEO of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “We are delighted that so many people have been able to take advantage of the Great British Rail Sale and are exploring the fantastic locations that are accessible by rail for less at a time when we’re all feeling the squeeze.

“Customers who are planning to travel by train this summer can still make great savings on their next train journey by booking in advance, travelling off-peak or with a Railcard that provides one-third off most fares.”

The UK Government says it is is listening to people’s concerns about rising living costs and is taking action with more than £22 billion of support in 2022 to 2023 alone – which includes helping with the cost of energy bills and efforts to ensure people keep more of their money. It says offering half-price rail tickets is one of the ways the government is further supporting families with the cost of living.

First-ever Community Rail Week asks Scots to ‘go green by train’

Seven out of ten young people want to see more train travel in the future

The inaugural Community Rail Week, 18-24 October, is involving hundreds of community rail partnerships and volunteer groups, including many in Scotland, running activities to promote their local railways, and giving communities and young people a voice on green transport.

Organised by Community Rail Network and sponsored by Rail Delivery Group, the Week is focusing on young people’s views, voices and futures, as a new survey is released exploring travel habits and attitudes to green travel among 1,000 16–24-year-olds: 1

Seven in ten (70%) young people are keen to see more people using trains in the future, with the vast majority (90%) saying the environment and climate emergency is an important issue to them;
Around half (48%) travel by train at least once a month, but one in six (17%) have rarely or never been on a train, or can’t remember when they last did;
While 94% have a station near enough for them to use, most (67%) admit there are factors getting in the way of them using trains, including practicalities with walking, cycling, or getting a bus to the station, being worried about cost, or driving or getting lifts being more convenient.

In Scotland, the region’s community rail partnerships and groups will be taking part in a range of activities to raise awareness of the difference that people can make by choosing to travel sustainably and encouraging people to make their own pledge to ‘Go Green by Train’.

They will also hold a series of events and activities including:

Today (Monday 18 October), members of 6VT, an Edinburgh Youth Cafe, will travel from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Central on the 12.28 ScotRail service and complete activities on board highlighting the importance of going green by train as well as taking the ‘Going Green by Train’ pledge.
On Friday 22 October between 1-3, in South Lanarkshire, the Rail74 Community Rail Partnership are joining with local schools to give out ‘random acts of green love’ at Newton rail station and will launch the new green space at the station which has been adopted by St Charles Primary School.
On Sunday 24 October, the West Highland Community Rail Partnership will host a “Building the Mallaig Railway” exhibition at Glenfinnan station exploring the railway contractor’s ‘unwittingly green’ credentials.

With greener transport recognised as a fundamental part of the solution to the climate emergency, Community Rail Week and the ‘Go Green by Train’ campaign looks to drive change at community level through the efforts of 74 community rail partnerships and 1,000 station friends groups across Britain – including 9 partnerships and over 260 groups in Scotland – working to help people get out of their cars and onto trains and other sustainable modes.

Transport has a huge role to play if the UK is to reach its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 100% of 1990 levels, or ‘net zero’, by 2050.

Figures show that:

Transport is now the largest emitting sector in the UK, making up 27% of domestic emissions in 2019; 1
Rail accounted for just 1% of domestic transport emissions in 2019, despite representing 10% of the total distance travelled, and is the greenest form of transport after walking and cycling; 2, 3
One train can remove up to 500 cars off our roads; 4
For a 30-mile journey, travelling by train instead of by car can reduce emissions by up to 86%. 5

Jools Townsend, chief executive of Community Rail Network, said: “As we approach the international climate talks in Glasgow, the community rail movement across Scotland is coming together to highlight the great importance of green travel at a local and global level.

“Transport is now the biggest contributor of UK greenhouse emissions, so we face a pressing challenge to decarbonise the way we get around, for the sake of future generations – plus Scotland’s communities can benefit now from reduced traffic and pollution. Rail, combined with buses, walking, cycling, and shared mobility, provides a huge part of the solution: shifting as many journeys as we can onto these modes, and reducing private car use, can help us forge a more sustainable, healthy, inclusive future.

“We’re excited to launch our first Community Rail Week with events and activities in communities across Britain, raising awareness and exploring how we can enable and empower more people to feel confident and able to go green by train.”

Andy Bagnall, director general at the Rail Delivery Group, said: “Trains are inherently green so when people go by rail it’s more than a journey – it’s literally helping to save the planet!

“In future, we want trains to be the backbone of a decarbonised transport network so, as well as supporting initiatives like Community Rail Week, we want to work with government to reform ticketing and fares – if it’s easier for people to find and buy a good value ticket, more people will use rail as a green alternative to other ways of travelling.”

Glasgow Queen Street is UK’s favourite railway station

Glasgow Queen Street has been named the nation’s favourite railway station in a public poll which recorded over 95,000 votes
48 stations from across the country competed head to head in the World Cup of Stations with the Scottish terminal receiving most votes
Queen Street beat Scottish rivals in the group stages before triumphing in the final over three English stations in a nail biting conclusion, pulling ahead in the final 15 minutes of voting
Rail staff at Glasgow Queen Street and at stations across the country have been playing a key role supporting Britain’s recovery from COVID-19

Glasgow Queen Street has been named Britain’s favourite station after winning the World Cup of Stations 2020.

Out of 2,579 stations across the country, Queen Street was shortlisted as one of 48 stations participating in the week-long online poll which recorded over 95,000 votes in total.

They saw off the competition in each day of public voting ,beating Scottish rivals Motherwell, Aberdeen and Wemyss Bay in the group stages and heavyweights Newcastle and Crewe in the semi-final.

Edinburgh Waverley was eliminated at the group stage.

Two of this year’s finalists once again thought the path to victory was courting the internet’s substantial cat vote with both Huddersfield and Stourbridge Junction putting their moggy mascots front and centre.

But in the end Glasgow Queen Street, coming fresh off a £120m redevelopment, proved too much for them and for London Kings Cross.

The 2020 final was a nail-biter coming right down to the wire with Queen Street eventually winning by 0.3% pulling ahead in the last 15 minutes of voting.

Maggie Hoey, Queen Street Station General Manager, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Glasgow Queen Street has been crowned champion in this year’s World Cup of Stations.

“The recent redevelopment work has revitalised the station, delivering a contemporary building both internally and externally. It’s created a spacious and accessible transport facility that will be a positive and prominent addition to Glasgow’s historic George square for years to come.

“We owe a huge thanks to everyone who voted for us, and to our social media colleagues who really got behind the Rail Delivery Group’s campaign to drum up support.”

The competition highlighted the important role that the railway, stations and staff are playing keeping people connected and supporting communities and local businesses during the pandemic.

Robert Nisbet, Director of Nations and Regions for the Rail Delivery Group said: “For a while it looked like nothing was going to stop Stourbridge Junction and their mascot George the cat, but Glasgow Queen Street played the full 90 minutes and have come away with the silverware.

“It’s a fitting tribute to the newly redeveloped station and the friendly staff there who have kept key workers moving through the pandemic and continue to support the local community.”

Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “I am immensely proud of the whole railway family, who have worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic to keep our railways running and passengers safe.

“My congratulations go to all the staff at Glasgow Queen Street for winning this year’s competition. They have played a key role supporting Britain’s recovery from Covid-19, ensuring that key workers and NHS staff can get to work, saving lives.”