How to get things changed – a good case study

09 July 2013

The community rail movement has been effective in harnessing energy behind some rural and not-so-rural lines. Volunteers, station adopters, local marketing and events have all helped drive up passenger numbers. Train companies would struggle to justify the input to achieve this, but volunteers and paid workers (often funded by local authorities) can really make a difference.

However, the justification for change sometimes seem like ‘…because rail is a good thing’. This will not persuade decision-makers. They want to see evidence. We are able to do this at national and route level for rail and bus, but it is really good to see a local group using research to drive change.

Keith Walton, the excellent chairman of the Severnside Community Rail Partnership asked us for some help in pulling together some passenger research on the Severn Beach line near Bristol. See this link for the results:

Severn Beach line qualitative research – June 2013

Excellent local information on attitudes to buses, cycling and walking. Lots of information about younger passengers – the group everyone wants to reach.

Good quality research is much harder to argue with.