Let’s travel hopefully into 2025!
January 2025

A few people have asked ‘so how is your campaign going?’ And the answer is – rather quietly.
Without clear guidance (and appropriate resource allocation) from central and local government, new transport infrastructure will not proceed.
The ‘Reverse Beeching’ initiative by the last government is now generally considered to have been a complete failure – with no projects that were not already under way moving forward. Available funding was insufficient and project selection criteria were arguably ill-defined.
The new government have not as yet brought any more clarity to national rail policy. At the time of writing there are still no senior appointments for ‘Great British Rail’, the organisation charged with reforming our rail system.
There is a lot of talk about the need for investment in EV charging points and incentives to encourage purchase of electric vehicles in the UK – but rather less about diversifying the transport system and moving away from high car dependence. Electric cars may solve some environmental problems – but not all of them. And that’s assuming you can afford one!
There were however some good news railway stories in 2024 – not least the reopening of the 18-mile-long ‘Northumberland Railway’ from Newcastle to Ashington (after 60 years of closure). It will have 7 new stations by the end of 2025 and is expected to carry 380,000 passengers a year by 2034.
It is worth noting that the project has been vigorously promoted for many years by the Northumberland County Council – something that we hope our own local authorities will note. Successful projects like this need commitment from all levels of government.
There has been criticism of the eventual cost of £300 million (original estimate £160 million). But compare that to some recent road projects. The proposed ‘West Winch Housing Access Road’ south of King’s Lynn, is already costed at £110 million for 1.5 miles of new road (including alterations to the A47) and that is before a contractor has been appointed. The Norwich Western Link Road (3.9 miles) is now expected to cost £400 million (if it proceeds). One new road junction on the A63 in Hull is already expected to cost £350 million (work has presently ceased). The 14-mile Lower Thames road crossing was touted at a cost of £9 billion (!) – presently ‘on hold’.
Looking at the new year ahead there are some positive signs. After years of strikes there appear to be improvements in industrial relations in the rail industry; A new ‘Rail Reform Bill’ is due for publication by the government; and, the new Cambridge South station is due to open in the latter part of the year – hopefully ending disruption for our line to London!
And in 2025, railway travel will be 200 years old! The first ever railway journey took place on 27th September 1825 on the Stockton-Darlington railway. Certainly, something to celebrate!
New government – New thinking? We will continue to lobby
July 2024
As we await formation of a new government, we can only hope that the new administration will be addressing climate change, sustainable planning and infrastructure delivery more seriously than the manifestos and election campaigning have indicated.
An analysis of manifesto policy by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth showed only the Green Party scoring maximum points for sustainable transport policy – with Labour scoring less than 50% and the Conservatives a woeful 15%.
Over the last decade Westminster has offered only fleeting periods of lukewarm support and relatively minor investment in public transport and railways. We think too much focus was placed on HS2 at the expense of wider infrastructural improvement – and even that project has now been significantly reduced.
But change must come! Even with a pandemic, two years of still unresolved industrial action and the nonsensical pricing of train tickets, train travel has retained strong demand. Figures from the government office of Rail and Road showed another strong year of growth in passenger numbers to March 2024, bringing it back to pre-pandemic levels.
UK transport remains a principal emitter of C02, the domestic transport sector being responsible for 28% of all emissions (Gov.UK figures, 2022). Much trust is now being placed on electric cars to reduce this burden, but analysis by the Rail Delivery Group earlier this year found that even an electric car journey is 2.5 times more polluting than an equivalent rail journey. (A hybrid vehicle was four times more polluting and a petrol or diesel car was nine times more polluting.)
If the next government are serious about meeting their legal commitments to tackle climate change, transport planning must be absolutely central to their plans. Investment in rail travel, prioritising the resolution of industrial action and addressing ticket pricing through appropriate regulation must be at the heart of their plans.
Bicycle / train-based transport systems have been greatly developed across many European countries in recent years. In Holland nearly 50% of rail passengers now arrive at stations by bicycle. (click photo to enlarge)
Network Rail back ‘Tram Trains’
September 2023
Whilst ‘official’ UK government policy continues to vacillate on a range of issues – sustainable planning for the 21st century simply must shift away from its current dependency on road traffic towards mixed transport options. This will offer long-term social, environmental and economic benefits.
This is what we are now seeing in many other parts of Europe where heavy investment in trains, trams, buses and cycle infrastructure has been backed-up with subsidised incentives to encourage a faster shift away from car travel. Super-cheap travel passes are now available in Germany, Austria and Spain and completely free public transport is provided in places like Luxembourg, Malta and a number of European cities.
Even in cities in England, local policy is now backing public transport – most recently with the launch of the ‘Bee Buses’ in Manchester as part of a new integrated public transport system including a fleet of 50 electric buses. As well as reduced congestion and cleaner air, the scheme is aimed at bringing back passengers to a system that became increasingly unattractive to people under a deregulated private competition system.
The oft-quoted reason for not backing more public transport is cost. But when a new 1.5-mile stretch of single carriageway road to provide access to housing planned at King’s Lynn is now estimated to cost £85m (even before it is fully designed and tendered), is continued car dependence really a cheaper option? Ultimately such costs are all from the public purse. We need to spend our money on the best long-term solutions.
Based on cost-benefit analysis, Network Rail are now favouring ‘Tram-Train’ systems, which can run on traditional ‘heavy rail’ lines, but are also safe to run on ‘light rail’ tracks as the design allows flexibility on platform design. This means that they can facilitate extensions from existing rail corridors into town centres and new developments – with low-speed sections in street situations and fast connections on rail lines.
Other advantages include the reduced cost of infrastructure for features such as level crossings and stations, as well as the benefits of clean, electrified, mass transit vehicles. They are now widely used in Europe and have been introduced as part of the modernisation of the railways in South Wales.
Network Rail are now supporting Tram-Trains as the preferred system for the March to Wisbech and Cambridge to Haverhill rail reopening projects – where they envisage that additional spurs could be provided into planned housing development at Wisbech and existing business parks at places like Babraham and Sawston.
It is envisaged that a sub-regional Tram-Train fleet could also run on heavy rail lines to provide connections to Peterborough, Ely, Cambridge and Newmarket. It does not take a genius to realise that extending those ideas to King’s Lynn and Hunstanton makes absolute sense. And why not a King’s Lynn link to Peterborough via Wisbech and Norwich via Swaffham and Dereham?

PH Railfuture East Anglia 2023
A nostalgic look backwards – or a reminder of what we could and should still have?
Easter 2023
It has been another fraught Easter for King’s Lynn and West Norfolk as holidaymakers poured along our local roads on the way to the Norfolk coast. This has resulted in traffic chaos and hours of almost complete gridlock in King’s Lynn on three separate days, with two serious accidents at the Hardwick roundabout, including at least one very sad fatality.
Surely anybody who still thinks these (now annual) periods of severe road congestion can be solved by more investment in roads and a road-based transport system has taken leave of their senses? We simply must shift to a properly multi-modal transport network. And railways could offer so much! Not only statistically safer, reliable mass transport – but advantages for a low carbon transport network that supported cycling and walking as well. In fact, the very model that many other countries are investing in right now.
At KLHRC we are not big on nostalgia – but we share with you below 15 minutes of a documentary film from 1968 recording the last few weeks of the Dereham to King’s Lynn railway. Like the King’s Lynn to Hunstanton railway, this line was not recommended for closure by Beeching, but was instead run down by British Railways until it was simply unviable. The characters in the film reflect the mood and ideas of the times – that railways were ‘old fashioned’ and unpopular. But were they? It now seems utter madness that more than 100 years of investment in railway infrastructure, not to mention an experienced and diligent workforce, were written off by a couple of decades of one-eyed transport policy making.
How many frustrated car drivers would have preferred a comfortable train ride to the seaside this Easter?
In spite of … everything … rail schemes are still coming forward
March 2023
It has been a frenetic 12 months in British and world politics. As this government limps towards the finishing line, previous commitments to transport infrastructure investment seem to be falling by the wayside. Last week substantial cuts (or at least, ‘delays in expenditure’) were announced for HS2 and ‘active travel’ programmes.
We have also heard that many of the railway schemes awarded grants from the ‘Reversing Beeching’ scheme may not now progress past an initial feasibility study.
And yet, despite strikes, inflation and general gloom, the DfT reported toward the end of 2022 that rail passenger numbers had recovered to 99% of pre-covid levels.
And three new railway reopening schemes are progressing. The 18-mile-long Newcastle to Ashington line in Northumberland, costing £166Mn (including road improvement works and 6 refurbished stations), is due to open in summer 2024. Northumberland County Council anticipate cost benefits of £0.5Bn to the local economy.
The 5-mile long Levenmouth railway reopening in East Fife is expected to open in Spring 2024 and will bring a catchment of 40,000 people within a 75 minute rail journey of Edinburgh.
And a strategic business case has been completed for the 5-mile long Plymouth to Tavistock reopening in Devon. The County Council are now seeking a £3Mn government grant to take the project to the next stage. The railway would underpin new business investment at Devonport and housing expansion near Tavistock and is expected to carry 400,000 passengers a year.
So rail investment is happening, the pre-operational cost benefits still look good – and we know from previous schemes, the eventual benefits often eclipse those expected.
Still hopeful of a transport re-set
Comment — September 2022
We were pleased to see that reopening the King’s Lynn to Hunstanton railway was included in the Transport East strategic vision for future transport development in East Anglia. To us it seems like straightforward common sense to provide reliable direct public transport to north-west Norfolk — with obvious benefits for tourism, community connectivity and the environment.
But on the whole, the Transport East investment strategy is still very orientated towards road building. This remains a very expensive way of delivering transport infrastructure (environmentally and financially) and the continuing UK preoccupation with road transport does not appear to be shared by most other European nations.
Hopes rise for restoration of disused Norfolk railway
More evidence of rail investment offering excellent value for money
Comment — September 2022
The ‘Dartmoor Line’ from Exeter to Okehampton reopened to passenger services only last November and has already smashed estimates for expected use with more than 120,000 journeys made by late August (see link to BBC report).
Meanwhile in West Norfolk we experienced yet another summer of traffic mayhem, as holidaymakers sat in long queues in record heat in order to get to the coast.
The Government have recently gone rather quiet about their support for railway reopening’s and Transport Minister Grant Shapps, a principle advocate for the ‘Reverse Beeching’ programme, has now been replaced by Anne Marie Trevelyan. Let us hope that her accountancy background allows her to see that the figures really do add up for new railway investment!
Reopened Beeching cut Dartmoor rail line sees 120,000 journeys
The case for investment in better public transport continues to build
Comment — March 2022
Our spiralling cost of living and particularly the record rises in petrol and diesel prices, can only mean one thing in the longer term. The number of people who can’t afford to own and drive a car will rise. Surveys already indicate that more than 30% of households do not have direct access to a car or van. Hence cutting fuel duty doesn’t directly help 1/3 of households at all.
As the move towards electric cars accelerates and petrol and diesel vehicles are phased out, it is highly probable that this ‘access to transport gap’ will grow.
The rapid rise of the electric bicycle (sales have tripled both in the UK and internationally in recent years) could go some way to provide low-cost transport at the local level.
But for an affordable transport solution for longer journeys, a significant growth in public transport provision must be a key part of a decarbonised transport system. And we think trains — running with either electric or hydrogen power, are likely to be the best solution.
And this conclusion is international. The French government recently announced plans to reopen or upgrade 9200km of rural rail lines as part of an ‘ecological transition and defence of rural life’. They previously announced they would double their rail freight capacity by 2030.
www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/french-government-to-double-railway-freight-by-2030
Meanwhile the German government propose to invest over 12bn Euro to modernise their rail network, with plans to double passenger capacity by 2030, greatly increase freight capacity, and, by the way, create 100,000 new jobs in the process.
www.webuildvalue.com/en/infrastructure/rail-transport-germany-reopening-railways.html
In November the UK Government announced the ‘integrated rail plan’ (IRP) for the north and midlands — but we need similar investment in East Anglia. The south-east also has areas of deprivation. We also need ‘levelling up’!
The need for investment in appropriate, sustainable public transport infrastructure is clear and obvious. We just need to stop faffing about and get on with it! We need the funding Mr Sunak!
Some bad news / some good!
We had the disappointing news last week that we were not awarded money by DfT to assist a more detailed feasibility study on the reopening scheme. The main reason for this seems to be that the Government were swamped with proposals for railway reopening schemes from all over the country. No schemes were funded in East Anglia.
The rush for the funding is however testament to the widespread support rail travel has in the UK and the realisation that it can and should be a major part of low-carbon transport plans, sustainable development and improved ‘connectivity’.
And there is good news as well. The County Council are committed to the scheme and have provisionally suggested they could cover the cost of the next stage of feasibility studies themselves. We have also passed the 8000 mark on our petition. Our growing group of supporters understand this is a project that can underpin the future success of our area.
Keep our rail dream on track, King’s Lynn to Hunstanton campaigners urge council leaders
By Allister Webb
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Published: 17:27, 01 November 2021
County council leaders are being urged to commit financial backing for the fight to restore the rail link between Lynn and Hunstanton.
The move has been outlined after the campaign to re-open the line, which shut more than 50 years ago, missed out on a share of a central Government funding stream to revive lost links.
But campaign leaders say they have been encouraged following discussions with ministers.

And Hunstanton county councillor Andrew Jamieson says the campaign has come too far to be halted now.
He said: “A new railway offers so much promise for bolstering our local economy for decades to come, so we must not drop the ball now.
“The Hunstanton scheme has done magnificently to get this far in only a couple of years, which is a tribute to the enthusiasm and well-researched work of the local campaign group.”
The hope of bringing train services back to Hunstanton was raised last summer when the scheme was included in a list of projects to be considered for a share of Government funds intended to help reverse the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.
But the latest announcement from the Restoring Your Railway Fund, issued by the Department for Transport on Thursday, did not include the Lynn to Hunstanton line or any other scheme in this region.
Leaders of the King’s Lynn Hunstanton Railway Campaigning group say a more detailed, independent study is now needed to establish the potential travel benefits of the scheme.
It would explore how the line could potentially take passenger and freight traffic off the roads, as well as improving travel access to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in either its present or any future location.
Such an assessment is likely to cost tens of thousands of pounds to compile and had been the subject of the campaign’s bid to the Government.
The county council has already thrown its weight behind the campaign and was among the bodies to support the funding bid.
Martin Wilby, the authority’s cabinet member for transport, said today: “While we were disappointed that the Government rejected our initial bid for work on the reinstatement of the King’s Lynn-Hunstanton line, we are determined to ensure Norfolk has the transport infrastructure its needs to meet the demands of the 21st century.
“We are currently considering our next steps and will always consider well thought out plans to address the needs of communities in West Norfolk.”
Mr Jamieson said he also plans to hold talks with West Norfolk Council leader, Stuart Dark, on the subject.
Meanwhile, campaign leaders have also renewed their pleas for the public to sign their online petition calling for restoration of the line. Nearly 8,000 people have already backed the call via the change.org campaign website.
Group spokesman Howard Johnston said: “We want to make it possible for our young people to get to places like Cambridge to work. Hunstanton and its surrounding villages should also become famous for their wonderful attractions, not for the bumper-to-bumper traffic queues on the A149 road every summer. The case for rebuilding railway is overwhelmingly strong, and adding your name to the on-line petition is a good way to demonstrate community solidarity.”
Young People get it
Even though we would regard our campaign group to be largely comprised of more ‘mature’ members of the community — even we understand that transport policy must fundamentally change in coming years in order to achieve a carbon neutral economy. This article suggests that 70% of young people think that trains must be a part of that agenda.
Seven out of ten young people want the country to ‘Go Green by Train’ to tackle the climate emergency — Politicians should bear this in mind
By Danny Longhorn — RailBusinessDaily — 18thOctober, 2021
The inaugural Community Rail Week, 18th-24th October, is involving hundreds of community rail partnerships and volunteer groups running the ‘Go Green by Train’ campaign with activities to promote their local railways, and giving communities and young people a voice on green transport.
Organised by Community Rail Network and sponsored by Rail Delivery Group, the campaign week is focusing on young people’s views, voices and futures, as a new survey is released exploring travel habits and attitudes to green travel among 1,000 16–24-year-olds:
- Seven in ten (70%) young people are keen to see more people using trains in the future, with the vast majority (90%) saying the environment and climate emergency is an important issue to them;
- Around half (48%) travel by train at least once a month, but one in six (17%) have rarely or never been on a train, or can’t remember when they last did;
- While 94% have a station near enough for them to use, most (67%) admit there are factors getting in the way of them using trains, including practicalities with walking, cycling, or getting a bus to the station, being worried about cost, or driving or getting lifts being more convenient.
With greener transport recognised as a fundamental part of the solution to the climate emergency, Community Rail Week and the ‘Go Green by Train’ campaign looks to drive change at community level through the efforts of 74 community rail partnerships and 1,000 station friends groups across Britain — working to help people get out of their cars and onto trains and other sustainable modes. Activities and events during the week include sustainable travel workshops, creative competitions and exhibitions, ‘Go Green by Train’ pledge campaigns, engagement with schools and youth groups, ‘try the train’ trips, and question time style sessions with young people discussing the environment and transport.
Transport has a huge role to play if the UK is to reach its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 100% of 1990 levels, or ‘net zero’, by 2050. Figures show that:
- Transport is now the largest emitting sector in the UK, making up 27% of domestic emissions in 2019;
- Rail accounted for just 1% of domestic transport emissions in 2019, despite representing 10% of the total distance travelled, and is the greenest form of transport after walking and cycling;
- One train can remove up to 500 cars off our roads;
- For a 30-mile journey, travelling by train instead of by car can reduce emissions by up to 86%.
Jools Townsend, chief executive of Community Rail Network, said: “As we approach the international climate talks in Glasgow, Britain’s community rail movement is coming together to highlight the great importance of green travel at a local and global level. Transport is now the biggest contributor of UK greenhouse emissions, so we face a pressing challenge to decarbonise the way we get around, for the sake of future generations — plus our communities can benefit now from reduced traffic and pollution. Rail, combined with buses, walking, cycling, and shared mobility, provides a huge part of the solution: shifting as many journeys as we can onto these modes, breaking down green travel barriers, and reducing car use can help us forge a more sustainable, healthy, inclusive future.
“We’re excited to launch our first Community Rail Week with events and activities in communities across Britain, raising awareness and exploring how we can enable and empower more people to feel confident and able to go green by train.”
Andy Bagnall, director general at the Rail Delivery Group, said: “Trains are inherently green so when people go by rail it’s more than a journey — it’s literally helping to save the planet!
“In future, we want trains to be the backbone of a decarbonised transport network so, as well as supporting initiatives like Community Rail Week, we want to work with government to reform ticketing and fares — if it’s easier for people to find and buy a good value ticket, more people will use rail as a green alternative to other ways of travelling.”
Photo credit: Community Rail Transport
On Track for a Comeback
KLHRC are awaiting announcement from the Department of Transport to see if they have been successful with their bid for further feasibility study funding. We are under no illusions though, as communities across the country have mobilised to put in similar strong bids. Across the country people understand that a shift back towards rail transport is needed and long overdue. Many disused lines have been better protected than the King’s Lynn to Hunstanton route — but even if our line needs substantial new sections, the terrain could make it relatively easy to build.
www.bigissuenorth.com/features/2021/09/on-track-for-a-comeback
James Wild MP encourages people to sign petition for Lynn to Hunstanton rail restoration
James Wild MP is encouraging constituents to sign petition to back bid to restore King’s Lynn to Hunstanton railway as part of government £500 million Restoring Railways Fund.
Next month is the deadline for Norfolk County Council and James to make a fresh submission to the final round of the £500m Restoring Railways Fund. James is supporting calls from Cllr. Andrew Jamieson for emails and letters of support for the project ahead of the deadline for submissions on March 5th.
Press Release
How you can help get our railway back
Local businesses and residents can play a big role in deciding whether Hunstanton and several major communities along the North West Norfolk coast get a railway link to King’s Lynn, Cambridge and London.
They are being urged to write letters and send e-mails of support to help secure a £50,000 government grant to push the project forward. The strict deadline is March 1st.
View the full Press Release (pdf file)
Torquay use Government railway station fund to benefit urban expansion plans
Torbay Council have shown how rail infrastructure funding can help to make new residential areas more sustainable and diminish the need for car dependency.
Showing considerable forward thinking, the Council has also included the provision of this key transport infrastructure as part of their recent Town Deal funding bid.
Surely this example is very relevant for urban expansion plans in West Norfolk?
Almost £8 million awarded for new Torquay station