YOUNG RAIL PROFESSIONALS
RAILSTAFF NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
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S L A N IO S S E F O R P L YOUNG RAI ITY N U T R O P P O AN H T W O R G R FO
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ost and reliability are key to attracting passengers and encouraging modal shift as the domestic and international travel markets recover − a challenge we are ready to take on.
In the last edition of RailStaff I continued a series of editorials which voice the views of my peers − young professionals in rail, the future leaders of our industry. It followed an article looking at the changes to working habits caused by the pandemic with a review of the ‘people and culture’ elements of the emerging Great British Railways. It is clear that international travel is not helping to end the global Coronavirus pandemic, especially when virulent and highly transmissible variants emerge. Constantly changing travel rules have made the majority of holidaymakers think twice about going abroad and the international travel market is struggling to adapt. As we well know, domestic public transport has also suffered from a suppression in demand, although the recent 70% pre-Covid passenger numbers suggest that people are returning to their old commuting habits and leisure passengers are taking advantage of cheap advance fares to get around and beat the interminable traffic jams. The international travel market will recover similarly, it is just a matter of time. The truth is that it is not just the pandemic which threatens the decline of international and domestic air travel. The current overreliance on cheap air travel provides the rail industry with a huge opportunity for market growth both domestically and internationally; sustainable growth which could go a long way to meeting the UK’s carbon agenda. The public is more self-aware than ever and more
George Chilcott.
conscious of the decisions they take and the impact that we all have on the environment. I’ve discussed this opportunity with fellow young rail professionals and considered how domestic public transport, especially rail, is different to air. Where most international travel provides for the leisure market, © ake1150sb
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rail provides an essential social and economic service which can be efficiently complemented by off-peak leisure journeys. Where international air travel uses unsustainable technology, rail provides a low-carbon method of carriage − ranging from fully renewable-sourced electric journeys to diesel powered freight which utilises efficiency of scale. Where international air travel requires users to drive for miles to reach international hubs, rail can provide endto-end connections using the extensive existing networks to supplement the international routes. The national rail network was never designed for longdistance travel. It was designed piecemeal to connect the biggest economic hubs as they developed, and the rest of the network sprawled out of the nodes and mainlines. Investing in the infrastructure to support international rail travel, with new high-speed links between long-distance destinations and services which carry passengers from all over the
