News

• 1,000 extra services per week to be added, benefiting passengers across the country
• Changes are part of a long-term improvement plan to make trains more frequent and enable new journeys, while prioritising punctuality and reliability
• Introducing ambitious improvements for passengers presents a significant challenge and the industry is working together to focus on implementing lessons learned from summer 2018 to strengthen timetabling, visible through the effective winter timetable change last December
• Train companies and Network Rail will work together to closely monitor the introduction of the new timetable and respond rapidly to any disruption

Paul Plummer, Rail Delivery Group (RDG) chief executive, has confirmed his intention to retire this autumn.

Proposals represent industry’s first contribution to the Williams Review with a call for preparatory work to begin now including government, industry and passenger groups reviewing regulation as well as a series of real-world trials to support a rolling programme of reform across Britain over the next three to five years.

• New organisation would be ‘guiding mind’ ensuring the network works as a whole, decisions are aligned and the right targets are set
• This would enable politicians to step back from day-to-day detail and focus on what they want the railway to achieve for communities and the country
• It would mean train companies and Network Rail could focus on what they do best – innovating and creating to deliver better for their customers.

From April, Britain’s train operators and Network Rail will publish new measures of train punctuality as part of an ongoing plan to improve performance and reduce delays.

• Since going on sale, in January, the 26-30 Railcard has saved customers over £10.5m on rail journeys
• There will be over 200k 26-30 Railcards in circulation by the end of the week
• Since 1993, Railcard holders have made around 2.2bn journeys, saving themselves an estimated £8.5bn on their rail journeys

Following months of consultation with passengers, businesses and communities, the Rail Delivery Group has submitted proposals to the Williams Review that would create a generational step-change in accountability and customer focus.

Thousands more train passengers will be able to wave goodbye to their orange tickets this month as train companies make smart tickets more widely available with the roll out of new technology across the network.

The rail industry is launching a new interactive map which will make it easy for passengers to find out about accessibility at stations, helping to boost their confidence to travel by train.

The National Rail 26-30 Railcard went on sale at midday on 2 January 2019 and has saved customers over £3.4m within the first month.

My Interrail reveals the top situations and locations for proposals.

For the first time ever, the 16-25 and Network Railcards are available on smart phones.