Better Transport

Your campaign targets are the people who have the power to affect the change you are seeking.

Who you will target depends on what you are trying to improve.

Station improvements: Target Network Rail
Network Rail owns and operates the rail infrastructure. It owns all UK train stations and leases most of them to the train operators that use the stations, apart from 17 larges stations it manages itself, including London Euston, London Kings Cross, Edinburgh Waverley and Manchester Piccadilly.

Station maintenance: Target train operators
It’s laid down in their franchise agreements that train operators have to provide and maintain a basic level of facilities at stations. You aren’t allowed to read the agreement but you could ask the train operator about it anyway. Integrating cycling and walking with rail travel should appeal to train operators because:

• It requires little investment
• It would bring in new passengers
• It meets a host of wider Government objectives for transport, social inclusion and health
• There is plenty of good practice from home and abroad that could be replicated and expanded upon

> Passenger Focus’s website will tell you who your train operator is.

Bus links: Target bus operators
To a large extent, securing better bus links will depend on the bus operator having a commercial incentive to run a new service or divert an existing service to pass the rail station. If the commercial incentive doesn’t exist, funding from the local authority will be needed to support the service. Our case studies demonstrate that improving bus links to a station can be a profitable venture.

If you don’t know who runs your bus service, contact your local authority.

Cycle facilities: Target train operators or the local authority
Accommodating cycles in trains and stations will generally be the train operator’s responsibility. Creating cycle routes to the station will be the responsibility of your local authority.

Walking facilities: Target you local authority
Creating good, safe routes to stations are down to the local authority.

Within your local authority there will be:

• Councillors. They decide on policies and make their decisions via committees
• Council officers, who are employed by the council to formulate and implement policies. They write reports for relevant council committees, which will form the basis for the council’s decision

Both councillors and officers are responsible for specific areas of policy –often these responsibilities are listed online. Don’t know how to reach your local authority? Find the contact details online.

But people often work together. There are many examples of companies and organisations working in partnership to improve stations and access to stations.