Our stakeholder team was at Liverpool Lime Street station for this year’s Labour Party Conference, welcoming delegates and in partnership with First Bus, offering free shuttles down to the conference centre. 

 

In partnership with the Campaign for Better Transport, we launched a new report – Making the connection: Rail and the sustainable growth opportunity – focused on real-world examples and future opportunities to unlock rail’s full potential. We know that rail is central to the UK’s economic growth and productivity. As one of the UK’s most powerful and proven tools for delivering sustainable economic growth and reducing regional inequality, we brought together a panel of experts including Campaign for Better Transport’s Chief Executive, Ben Plowden; Ken Skates MS, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales; Avanti West Coast’s Managing Director, Andy Mellors and West Coast Partnership Development’s Managing Director, Shamit Gaiger OBE. 

 

Rail allows people to access opportunities previously out of reach, revitalises communities long left behind, boosts productivity and opens up land for housing and development – all without compromising environmental goals. 

 

But to unlock this potential, we need to encourage more people to use the railways. So we’re innovating our products. We recently expanded our award-winning Superfare ticket to Chester, providing more affordable journeys for customers and since launching in Spring 2023, we’ve sold over 240,000 of these tickets. 

You can read the full report here.