Lessons from history: let's expand our rail network

Hello Supporter

When new rail lines are built, or old ones are reopened, they tend to be massively popular:

• Half a million passengers have travelled on the Northumberland Line since it opened in December 2024.
• The reopened Dartmoor Line was an instant success, with passenger numbers far exceeding expectations.
• Amazingly, one in every seven national rail journeys are now made on London's Elizabeth Line!

Looking further back, similar success stories can be found. I've recently been poring over the Campaign for Better Transport archive, which spans our 50-year history. Why? Because the wonderful archivists at the National Railway Museum have been working to preserve and catalogue it as an important strand of transport history.

Our archive is a treasure trove of reports, letters, posters and photos, capturing the passion and persistence of campaigners and communities determined to protect and increase public transport. You can explore it at the National Railway Museum in York, and it will soon be available online too.

One of my favourite success stories is the legendary campaign to save the Settle-Carlisle line. In 1981, this famously scenic line was threatened with closure. A coalition of campaigners came together, including the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line, the Railway Development Society, and ourselves. Together with local councils and key allies in British Rail, the campaigners breathed new life into the route, and passenger numbers more than quadrupled. The line was officially saved in 1989, and today around 1.2 million passengers a year can marvel at its beauty.

I've written about historic rail campaigns in more detail in my latest blog post. But the key message is: let's expand our rail network, connect more communities, and see just what a success it can be.

Yours

Michael

Michael Solomon Williams
Head of Campaigns, Campaign for Better Transport