Rail Delivery Group – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Kilmarnock, Saltcoats, Cardross and Stow in the race to be crowned World Cup of Stations 2026 champion

Four stations in Scotland are among 20 shortlisted across Britain for World Cup of Stations 2026
This year’s competition celebrates “The stations creating connections that matter”
Public voting runs from Monday 12 to Sunday 18 October, with the winner announced on Tuesday 20 October
Get behind your favourite station at raildeliverygroup.com/WorldCupOfStations

The race to crown the World Cup of Stations 2026 champion begins today on Monday 12 October, with Kilmarnock, Saltcoats, Cardross and Stow competing for the public’s support.

Bringing the rail industry together to celebrate “The stations creating connections that matter”, this year’s competition gives people the chance to choose their Station of the Year. The four Scottish contenders are among 20 stations shortlisted across Britain for the difference they make to the people and communities they serve. Scotland has enjoyed success in the competition twice before with Wemyss Bay crowned champion in 2023 and Glasgow Queen Street taking the title in 2020.

Following over 150 nominations from the public, a judging panel selected stations whose stories show how the railway brings people and places together. Now it is over to the public to decide which one deserves the crown.

The shortlisted stations in Scotland area:

Kilmarnock has transformed redundant railway offices into a thriving Community Village of shops, cafés, meeting spaces and an active-travel hub. Its volunteering and training projects help people facing addiction, poor mental health, loneliness and isolation reconnect with opportunity and one another.

Cardross volunteers have turned the station into a vibrant community garden filled with flowers and edible produce. Their care has created more than a beautiful welcome: it has brought neighbours together and built shared pride in the place they call home.

Saltcoats has transformed unused station space into a fully accessible home for new Shibumi Karate Club and the wider community. The flexible facility connects people through sport, meetings and shared activities, giving residents a welcoming place to participate and belong.

Stow has turned its station into a lively community-focused hub where a volunteer-run pub, live music, sports clubs, karaoke and food nights bring people together. It is a social heart for the village, built around shared experiences.

Dan Mann, co-CEO of Rail Delivery Group, said: “This competition is an opportunity to celebrate the wider impact of our railways. The stories behind this year’s shortlisted stations show how rail helps people and communities thrive. Whether opening up opportunities, supporting local projects or bringing people together, each of these stations is making a real difference.

“As we move towards a simpler, more joined-up railway through Great British Railways, these stations highlight the important role our railway plays in connecting people, places and communities.

“This is your chance to celebrate that work. Read the stories, get behind your favourite and help us crown this year’s champion.”

Phil Campbell, ScotRail Customer Operations Director, said: “We’re delighted to see Kilmarnock, Saltcoats, Cardross, and Stow recognised in this year’s World Cup of Stations.

“Each of these stations show why the railway is about more than just getting people from A to B. They are great examples of how local people have used station spaces to bring communities together, support local projects, and create opportunities for people to connect.

“We’re incredibly proud of all four stations and would encourage everyone across Scotland to get involved and vote for their favourite.”

Last year, Ashington took the title following the return of passenger services after a 60-year absence. This year, Kilmarnock, Saltcoats, Cardross and Stow will be hoping to follow in its footsteps.

Voting takes place online at raildeliverygroup.com/WorldCupOfStations from 00:01, Monday 12 to 23:59, Sunday 18 October.

On the evening of Wednesday 14 October, the leading station from each regional group will progress to the final stage, leaving five stations in the race for the crown. The station receiving the most votes will be announced as the winner on Tuesday 20 October.

Make your voice heard and help crown the World Cup of Stations 2026 champion!

Communities across Scotland celebrate ‘Journeys for All’ during Community Rail Week 2026

Communities across Scotland came together to celebrate Community Rail Week 2026, organised by Community Rail Network and sponsored by Rail Delivery Group, showcasing how local railways, stations and volunteers are creating more inclusive, accessible and connected communities through the theme of ‘Journeys for All’, says Community Rail Network.

Community rail brings people, railways and communities together. It’s a grassroots movement made up of community rail partnerships, station volunteer groups and local organisations working with the rail industry to improve stations, build confidence in train travel, promote sustainable journeys and help rail better serve local people.

This year’s national campaign, led by the Community Rail Network and sponsored by the Rail Delivery Group, ran from 1–7 June under the theme ‘Journeys for All’. The week engaged over 13,000 people through events and activities across Britain, with a wider campaign reaching millions online.

Coinciding with Volunteers’ Week, it shone a spotlight on the thousands of volunteers and community rail teams who work year-round to tackle isolation, improve wellbeing, support sustainable travel and connect communities with their local railways.

Highlights included:

Highland Main Line, Borders Railway and 6VT Youth Community Rail Partnerships joining forces at Edinburgh Waverley to deliver a vibrant community rail showcase, highlighting local initiatives and inspiring greater awareness and uptake of sustainable travel across diverse audiences. 
Friends of Newton Station, supported by Rail 74 Community Rail Partnership and CAF Rail Services, leading a community gardening day to transform and enhance the station environment, strengthening local pride, encouraging volunteering and creating a more welcoming gateway for passengers. 
6VT Youth Community Rail Partnership leading a “Try the Train” experience for over 30 local school children, building confidence in using rail and opening up new opportunities for independent, sustainable travel.

Community Rail Network chief executive Jools Townsend said:”Community Rail Week 2026 demonstrated the incredible impact that community rail has in bringing people together and making rail travel more accessible, welcoming and relevant to people’s lives.

“Through this year’s ‘Journeys for All’ theme, community rail partnerships and volunteers showcased how local railways can help tackle isolation, build confidence, improve wellbeing and connect people to opportunities.”

6VT Youth CRP operations manager Fiona Horne said: “We’re incredibly proud to have taken part in Community Rail Week as part of this national campaign, celebrating the people and partnerships that make our railways so much more than a means of transport.

“It highlights how community rail can bring people together, support inclusion, create memorable experiences and help ensure everyone feels welcome and confident travelling by train.”

Community rail continues to thrive across Scotland, where partnerships and volunteers work alongside train operators, local authorities, charities and community groups to improve station environments, promote sustainable travel and ensure railways remain accessible and welcoming for all.

Across Scotland, nine community rail partnerships and around 210 station volunteer groups deliver a range of activities designed to encourage sustainable travel, celebrate local heritage and ensure rail remains at the heart of community life.

Next stop: May half-term – train travel delivers over a £430m boost to local economies

This May half-term, families travelling by rail are set to contribute an estimated £191 million to the local area they depart from and over £240 million at their destination, boosting local microeconomies.

Those heading for seaside towns and villages could drive local spending of over £20 million across the entire May half-term.

Food and drink are the top spend in and around the departure station, with leisure passengers supporting local high streets and the hospitality industry when they travel.

Numbers of leisure travellers expected to jump by 9% in city destinations and leap by 1/3 in seaside towns during half-term week with rail passengers, giving a real boost to local economies.

This May half-term, when leisure travellers, families and friends opt to travel by rail, they will also be providing a significant economic boost to local communities across Great Britain. New data from Rail Delivery Group shows that rail travellers this May half-term will contribute an estimated £191 million to the local areas from which they depart and over £240 million at their destination.

When comparing the half-term week in May with surrounding weeks outside, numbers of leisure travellers are expected to jump by 9% in city destinations and increase by 1/3 in seaside towns with rail passengers, giving a real boost to local businesses.

Whether families are spending more time exploring new places, enjoying leisurely meals, or visiting seaside attractions during their holidays, every journey made during this half-term will contribute to local economies.

Just over half (58%) of all leisure travellers spend money in and around the departure station and the most common location to spend money is on the local high street (40% of leisure travellers) followed by inside the station (16%).

The data also found that passengers heading to seaside towns and villages are the most likely to spend money in and around their departure station (65%), followed by people travelling to non-coastal towns and villages (60%) and cities (58%) and with travellers to rural areas the least likely (49%).

Those families heading to the seaside are expected to make an even larger impact with an average spend of £34 in and around their departure station and £44 at their destination. This means that those travellers visiting seaside towns and villages could be contributing over £20 million throughout the entire half-term to their local high streets, independent businesses and beyond. Whether grabbing an ice cream, buying a book or enjoying a fresh batch of fish & chips, every journey will benefit the local economies.

Beyond the economic boost, choosing rail this May half-term has a real environmental impact. On average, a single train journey emits nearly five times less carbon emissions than the same trip by car—equivalent to saving as much carbon as boiling a kettle 455 times.

And compared with flying, domestic rail travel in Britain is up to 13 times greener. By choosing the train, half-term travellers can significantly reduce their carbon footprint while also supporting local communities across the country.

Jacqueline Starr, Executive Chair & Chief Executive Officer at Rail Delivery Group said: “May half-term is a great time for families to explore many wonderful towns and attractions across Britain.

“Our data shows that by choosing sustainable rail journeys, passengers not only reduce their carbon footprint but also play a vital role in supporting local communities.

“Whether it’s a seaside escape, exploring somewhere new, or visiting family, this half-term every trip is more than a journey; it’s a chance to support local high streets, independent businesses and further drive economic growth across the country.”

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.”