Passengers

Comment

Comment: First Class delights with an occasional pang of hunger

Christian Wolmar samples a first class service and asks if it's really worth the extra.

Christian Wolmar 13 Jun

Journey to ‘Zero’. Several stations around the country now have a Platform 0 - this is Cardiff Central. ALAMY.

Feature

Holding out for a zero: why stations number platforms '0'

Andy Comfort finds out about a way to increase platform capacity without renumbering the whole station - and locates a few examples.

Passengers 9 May

Comment

Analysis: Rail heading in the right direction with pandemic recovery

Philip Haigh pores over figures for patronage, income and punctuality to discover some of the reasons behind rail performance increases and decreases.

Phil Haigh 22 Apr

Uddingston retains its nice station building and has free parking, which is a bonus. RAIL

Feature

Review: ScotRail's investment pays off

Scotland’s railways should have benefited from major investment where it is needed the most - commuter routes. The Mystery Shopper investigates.

Passengers 21 Mar

News

Rail reliability data at stations launched as government pushes for greater accountability

Rail passengers across England can now access real-time data on the punctuality and reliability of their local train services, as new station-level statistics have gone live.

Passengers 6 Mar

At Carlisle… heading north to Wemyss Bay. PETER PLISNER

Feature

How far will split tickets and railcards take you on UK rail?

Fancy a coffee? In Scotland? All for around £40 return (not including the coffee)? Peter Plisner reports on mad days out by train.

Passengers 5 Mar

Comment

Comment: Mind your language…

Christian Wolmar has some reservations about Network Rail's 2020 booklet on customer communications which has only recently been made public.

Chirstian Wolmar 19 Feb

QR code stickers on the seatbacks of an LNER service… and on an information screen at King‘s Cross. WHOOSH

Feature

Whoosh transforms passenger information

Operators are introducing ways to get all the real-time travel information you need… via QR codes. Paul Clifton investigates.

Digitalisation 17 Feb

The Deutschlandticket has been criticised by various parties since its introduction in 2023. Last September, the transport ministers of Germany’s 16 Länder (federal states) agreed to increase the price of the ticket to €58 per month from January 2025. ALAMY.

Feature

Anywhere at anytime: the formula for cheap subscription tickets

As more European countries introduce keenly priced subscription tickets to encourage greater use of public transport, Ben Jones asks if it actually works.

Passengers 29 Jan

After the pilot to abolish peak fares ended in October, the price of a peak-time commute between Glasgow and Edinburgh increased by 94%. Passengers at a busy Glasgow Queen Street station on December 20 2024. ALAMY.

Feature

Scotland’s radical peak fares pilot: over and out?

The Scottish government has called time on its pilot scheme to abolish peak rail fares, but the calls for making public transport more accessible grow.

Passengers 27 Jan

Progress on the upgrade of Cardiff Bay, as of August 2024. CHRIS HOWE.

Feature

Metro-style rail on the Core Valley Lines

Passengers in south-east Wales and beyond will soon benefit from new rolling stock, increased frequency and a large-scale upgrade of the Core Valley network.

Passengers 17 Jan

Comment

Comment: The path to a railway that “serves passengers better”

Passengers can expect a boost in rail punctuality from 2026 - but not necessarily because more trains are running on time. Philip Haigh explains why.

Phil Haigh 17 Jan

Comment

Comment: Ashington welcomes back passenger trains

The town has its passenger railway back after almost 60 years, with the upgrading of the freight-only Blyth and Tyne to become the Northumberland Line.

Phil Haigh 13 Jan

Feature

Survivors from the original 1825 Stockton & Darlington Railway

With this year’s ‘Railway 200’ celebrations now upon us, Dr Joseph Brennan looks at the remnants from the first passenger railway we can still see today.

Passengers 7 Jan

Marcus Oaten, from Signapse, explains how the AI translator works on board a Class 159 from London Waterloo to Exeter. Marcus, who is deaf, communicates using British Sign Language. PAUL CLIFTON.

Feature

App uses artificial intelligence to improve travel for deaf passengers

South Western Railway is trialling a system that enables passengers to translate information instantly into British Sign Language, using AI-generated images.

Passengers 3 Jan

Comment

Opinion: Custom and culture, the pillars of Japan’s rail efficiency

Our columnist Christian Wolmar is in Japan, experiencing the brilliancies and quirks of its varied rail networks.

Christian Wolmar 17 Dec

Comment

Opinion: riding home versus driving home for Christmas

Seasonal rushes, engineering works, snowstorms, traffic jams and can you work out whether Chris Rea would have got home for Christmas quicker by train?

Editor's comment 11 Dec

Feature

The latest blow to Portishead’s reopening hopes

After the new government’s axing of Restoring Your Railway funding, will trains ever run along the line to Portishead? Andrew Mourant reports.

Passengers 2 Dec

Comment

Opinion: How to tackle fare evasion

Now the regulator is to review protection practices and prosecutions process, our Industry Insider looks at the issues around fare evasion.

Industry views 2 Dec

Comment

Ticket offices and value in staff redeployment

Cost pressures are bearing down on the rail industry as revenue rises but not at a fast enough rate to cover the £2 billion gap between operating subsidy and income

Passengers 29 Nov