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Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall, meets pioneers of lifesaving train travel scheme
This morning, at Victoria Station, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall met the people who pioneered the lifesaving ‘Rail to Refuge’ scheme, which enables survivors fleeing domestic abuse to access free train travel to a safe refuge. The meeting follows The Duchess’ public support for the scheme’s extension last week.
Train operators to extend lifesaving travel scheme
- Extension expected to help hundreds more domestic abuse survivors to reach safe refuge
- Figures show 1,348 people have used the lifesaving scheme, equal to four survivors a day
- Scheme was introduced by all train operators during first lockdown, having been pioneered by Southeastern in 2019
Rail industry comments as vaccination roll-out nears major milestone
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps hailed the efforts of transport operators and employees across the country who have gone above and beyond to help the nation’s coronavirus vaccination roll-out, as the programme nears a major milestone in reaching those most at need.
Passengers asked to check before they travel as new timetables introduced
- Train operators are asking people who need to use the railway during lockdown to check before they travel as changes to services become available on journey planners.
- Working with government, train companies will be reducing services but will ensure key workers and others who need to travel can do so and will focus on maintaining space for social distancing. Operators will continue to monitor and adapt services to ensure they meet demand.
- The change reflects the lower numbers of people travelling and delivers better value for taxpayers; while ensuring services will continue to run reliably if COVID-19 affects the availability of rail staff
- Changes are being made in a way so that services can be restored as quickly as possible when restrictions are eased meaning not all operators are stepping timetables down at the same time, so people who are travelling should continue to check train times regularly over coming weeks.
Rail industry responds to reports of coronavirus-related staffing issues
Responding to recent reports of staff at a small number of train companies being affected by Covid-19, a spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said:
Rail Delivery Group comment on government rail fare announcement
Response to the government announcement confirming rail fares will remain at 2020 prices until 1 March 2021 and then rise by 2.6%.
RDG response to ORR data on rail passenger journeys
This morning the ORR published their latest statistical release on Passenger Rail Usage, covering Quarter 2 of 2020-21 (July to September 2020).
O Come All Ye Freight-Full: Avalanche of Christmas goods to be delivered by rail freight this year
- This year, rail freight will transport millions of Christmas decorations, trees and bottles of wine including 30% of Tesco’s Christmas range
- Rail freight has played an important role supporting the country throughout the pandemic and will now ensure people have everything they need to celebrate the festive period
- Intermodal rail freight which includes goods for retail has increased by almost 20% over the last decade with 1.6million tonnes being transported last month.
- With each freight train carrying as much as 76 HGVs, rail freight will help cut traffic jams in the run up to Christmas
Passengers asked to plan ahead as rail companies work hard to support Christmas journeys
- As the rail industry works together to help people travel with confidence this Christmas, passengers are asked to plan in advance and book their outward and return journeys
- 95% of the network is running as usual over the Christmas and New Year period, with essential engineering work taking place at key locations
- Upgrade work will improve train reliability for passengers on several routes and boost connectivity between England and Scotland on the East Coast Main Line
RDG response to Spending Review
Responding to the Chancellor's Spending Review, Robert Nisbet, Director of Nations and Regions at the Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators, said: