Railfuture (formerly the Railway Development Society) is a UK
advocacy
Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...
group which promotes better rail services for passengers and freight across a bigger rail network. The group's national policies are determined by its national board of directors (one-third elected by the membership every year, for a three-year term) and its national AGM. The group's campaigns are pursued nationally by three policy groups (Passenger, Infrastructure & Networks, Freight) and locally through regional branches (12 in England, plus one each in Wales and Scotland). Its honorary president is
Christian Wolmar
Christian Tage Forter Wolmar (born 3 August 1949) is a British journalist, author, railway historian and Labour Party politician. regional, and rail publications. It has been mentioned in both houses of Parliament, and transport unions and international press also cite its reports and follow its actions. It claims to have 20,000 affiliated and individual members.
History
The Railway Development Society (RDS) was preceded by the Society for the Reinvigoration of Unremunerative Branch Lines (UK) RUBLUKfounded in 1951 and which became the simpler-sounding Railway Invigoration Society (RIS). The RIS and the Railway Development Association (RDA, founded 1951) merged in 1978 to become the RDS. A founding member of the RDA was poet and rail enthusiast Sir
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...
.
One of the society's main campaign points was the retention of railway lines threatened with closure, and now the reopening of closed lines and stations. Campaigns with successful outcomes include the saving of the
Settle–Carlisle line
The Settle–Carlisle line (also known as the ''Settle and Carlisle'' (S&C)) is a main railway line in northern England. The route, which crosses the remote, scenic regions of the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines, runs between Settle J ...
in the 1980s, improvements to the
Oxford–Bicester line
The Oxford–Bicester line is a railway line linking Oxford and Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. Opened in 1850, later becoming part of a through route to Cambridge, it closed in 1967 along with much of the rest of the original line. The sect ...
, and the reopening of the
Borders Railway
The Borders Railway connects the city of Edinburgh with Galashiels and Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders. The railway follows most of the alignment of the northern part of the Waverley Route, a former double-track line in southern Scotland a ...
.
Additionally, Railfuture publishes proposals for entirely new rail schemes. One such is Thameslink 2, an additional north-south route cross-London route, connecting the
Brighton Main Line
The Brighton Main Line (also known as the South Central Main Line) is a major railway line in the United Kingdom that links Brighton, on the south coast of England, with central London. In London the line has two branches, out of and station ...
to routes north of London, via
East Croydon
East Croydon is a railway station and tram stop in Croydon, Greater London, England, and is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is one of the busiest non-terminal stations in London, and in the United Kingdom as a whole. It is one of t ...
,
Lewisham
Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...
,
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lo ...
The group has an elected national Board of Directors, and twelve English regional branches, plus Railfuture Scotland and Railfuture Wales.
Initiatives
The organisation has campaigned a reworking of
concessionary fares on the British railway network
There is no single 'discount railcard' available on the UK railway network. In addition to the large number and variety of short-term or localised promotional fares that have been available to passengers on the British railway network in recent d ...
by the introduction of a uniform "National Railcard" scheme to replace the railcards including the 16–25 Railcard,
Network Railcard
The Network Railcard is a discount card introduced in 1986 by British Rail, upon the creation of their Network SouthEast sector in parts of Southern England.
The card is intended to encourage leisure travel by rail by offering discounts ...
and
Senior Railcard
The Senior Railcard is an annual card available to people aged 60 and over, which gives discounts on certain types of Rail transport in Great Britain, railway ticket in Britain. The Railcard has existed in various forms since 1975; the curr ...
. Such a card was envisaged to take a similar form to existing
BahnCard
BahnCard (German ''Bahn'' – Rail) is a discount subscription programme offered by Deutsche Bahn (DB), the German national railway company. Unlike airline loyalty programs, but similarly to the UK Railcard, the BahnCard entitles the passenger t ...
products offered by
Deutsche Bahn
The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder.
describes itself as the se ...
in Germany. In April 2003, a study undertaken jointly by Railfuture and the
Rail Passengers Council
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
(later "Passenger Focus") stated that three million rail travellers might buy such a railcard if it were priced at £20.00, and offered a one-third discount for off-peak travel.
Other work has included advice on access for disabled passengers, such as in Gloucestershire.https://guide.glosnhs.net/guide/index.php/record/detail/138767. ''Guide Database: Gloucestershire NHS''. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
Collaboration
Railfuture is a member of the European Passenger Federation.
Publications
''Railwatch'' is a magazine published by Railfuture four times per year.