Railwatch issue 180 (July 2024) links

This page shows updates to Railwatch issue 180 and relevant links to obtain more information about certain articles.

This issue was published just before the General Election on 5 July 2024, which saw the Conservative government of 14 years replaced by a Labour government that had pledged to make changes to the railway, albeit without much detail, as mentioned in this issue.

P.2 'Station Car Parking' — There are numerous other issues, such as the inconsistent length of the free-period, the station car park being fully or partially closed to make space for rail replacement buses

P.3 'Skyhigh hopes for Leven' new railway line' — The photo shows no trace of the railway, which is just to the left of the triangular white building with the blue 'stripes' on the roof. The railway alignment is to the right of the river Leven and passes under the road bridge, where it terminates

P.5 'Member of the Year Awards' - Awards — Illustrated details of past Campaigner/Member of the Year Awards

P.5 'Rail User Group Awards' - RUG Awards — Full and illustrated details of all the RUG Awards and Commendations

P.6 'Join the Lottery' - Monthly Lottery — How to join or renew the Railfuture monthly lottery

P.7 'Pro-rail election action' — Update: Kier Starmer has appointed Juergen Maier as chair the state-owned company GB Energy

P.11 'West way forward for Manchester airport' — The map from the MCRUA refers to Kirby (in the Wigan direction). Although that is the pronunciation (silent 'k') it is spelt Kirkby

P.12 'Will election give the railways a clear road?' — For clarity, the book actually refers to Bob Reid I (confusingly, he was immediately succeeded by Bob Reid II )

P.18 'Severnside' — Since this article was written, Langport Transport Group has been awarded a Railfuture Fighting Fund grant

P.20 'Could Tories embrace rail renationalisation?' — Re: "Earlier this year [3 March 2024] the government raised fares by 4.9% [in England], despite the CPI showing an inflation rate of 3.9%." The article omited to state that the latter percentage is from November 2023

P.21 'Northumberland salute' — Shortly after publication of this issue, it was announced that the opening date of the Northumberland line had been pushed back to December 2024

P.22 'London & South East' - Rail Manifesto — Railfuture's Rail Manifesto for London Elections 2024 for the attention of candidates for Mayor of London and the 25 members of the London Assembly

P.22 'London & South East' - Andy Bagnall slides — Presentation at the branch AGM by Andy Bagnall, Chief Executive, Rail Partners

P.22 'Scotland' - Scott Arthur slides — Presentation at the Railfuture Ltd AGM by Scott Arthur about Edinburgh Trams and the proposals for a new tram line

P.22 'London & South East' - Stephen Gache slides — Presentation at the branch AGM by Stephen Gache, Otterpool Park LLP, about Westenhanger Station Project

The article on the Member of the Year Awards on page 5 was a little unclear. The award presented at the 2024 AGM in Edinburgh was actually for 2023 (there was no presentation at the 2023 AGM). It is for the previous year. Nominations for the 2024 award must be submitted by 30 June 2025.

You can click on the above 7 links to read more.

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18.08.2024

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Railwatch issue 180 (July 2024) links