PROGRESS – AT LAST !!

RUNWAYS TO RAILWAYS: At the end of March, the Campaign for Better Transport held their conference on International Rail. You may wish to read their Runways to Railways report at: https://bettertransport.org.uk/research/runways-to-railways-unlocking-the-potential-of-the-channel-tunnel/ THEN THE REGULATOR STEPS IN !! On the same day the Regulator (The Office for Rail & Road) confirmed that there was space for more than one train operator to use the depot in Stratford. This then led to 3 train operators making formal bids to run international train services from London to the continent via HS1 and the Channel Tunnel. The 3 organisations who made formal bids were Evolyn, Virgin and Gemini. There are also up to 4 others who have publicly expressed an interest. Being realistic, only

“QUITE A LOT HAS BEEN GOING ON RECENTLY”

We have some fairly positive news to report this month, beginning with: RUNWAYS TO RAILWAYS : UNLOCKING THE GROWTH POTENTIAL OF THE CHANNEL TUNNEL Monday 31st March – 6pm to 8pm in London – The Campaign for Better Transport will be holding a panel discussion about how the UK can make better use of International Rail. See below to register for this free event. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/runways-to-railways-unlocking-the-growth-potential-of-the-channel-tunnel-tickets-1262329444349?aff=oddtdtcreator RESTORING INTERNATIONAL SERVICES FROM ASHFORD & EBBSFLEET A group of Kent & Sussex MPs have met with Eurostar urging them to carry out a proper assessment of consumer demand for train services serving these 2 stations in Kent. They also met with Virgin & the Rail Minister who confirmed they were both keen to see

MORE TRAINS – LESS PLANES

This is the title of a comprehensive report which was published by Greenpeace last month. They investigated 112 routes across 27 European countries and came to the conclusion that on average travel by train costs twice as much as travel by plane. For each route they checked the fares for 9 different travel days. The worst example was the cost of travel on the same day from Barcelona to London, where the cheapest train fare was a whopping 30 times more expensive than the air fare. London-Barcelona is also one of the busiest air routes in Europe with a rather poor rail alternative at present in terms of cost, speed and frequency. The report outlines some suggested action points for