Francis Bourgeois, AKA ‘the train guy’ on TikTok has made trains cool again. As his new digital series Trainspotting hits our screens, trains are back in the limelight and for good reason. For too long (precisely 59 years), the socio-economic benefits of train travel have been overlooked. As a result, there is a deficit in the availability of localised rail connections which has so far  hindered the true potential of the British railway. The government must change tact and redirect their focus onto local rail before their costly “levelling up” agenda can go full steam ahead. 

In 1955, the British Transport Commission created a plan to modernise Britain’s railways, aiming to increase profit and upgrade the contemporary railway system so that it could compete with rising car ownership. The plan failed – this complex challenge needed a well-informed, steady handed and competent director to take its reins. Enter Mr Richard Beeching, businessman and economist with, as he famously told the Daily Mirror, ‘no experience of railways’. Much like former-PM Liz Truss, Beeching expertly paid attention to the nuances of the socio-economic situation at hand. His infamous ‘Beeching Report’ introduced brutal, sweeping cuts to less profitable, local railway lines.

The initial report identified 2,363 stations and about 8,000km of railway lines for closure. To put that into perspective, Beeching cut roughly 55 per cent of British Rail stations, 30 per cent of route miles and 67,700 British Rail positions. Whilst some of the initial closures were successfully protested, many of the cuts went ahead and the notorious report still influences the planning, investment, and development of today’s railway. Most problematically, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the report adopted an overly simplistic economic analysis of the railway routes. Ultimately, the Beeching closures failed in their attempt to rectify British Rail’s financial losses whilst simultaneously overlooking the  vital socio-economic role of the British railways. 

A few weeks ago, I took a train from Manchester Victoria to Hebden Bridge and reflected on the importance of transport links between rural and urban areas. A report from the CPRE in February 2020 showed that nearly one million people who lived in rural towns are at risk from being cut off from basic services if they do not have a car. A thriving countryside is dependent on well-connected towns, villages and cities – with only 6 of the 22 small towns in County Durham having a train station, this is clearly not the case in modern Britain.

A disjointed transport network compels young people to move away, leaving older people increasingly isolated and lonely and contributing to large pockets of isolated poverty in the countryside. Given that nearly a quarter of the country’s population lives in small towns, better links between urban and rural areas is not a problem to be dismissed.

Greater railway connections between cities and rural areas are mutually beneficial.  Cities are associated with higher risks of mental health problems, with an almost 40% higher risk of depression and 20% increased risk of anxiety. Spending time in green space has been found to drastically improve physical and mental wellbeing. Greater trainline connections means greater accessibility to these green spaces, allowing downtrodden city dwellers respite from the intensity of city life. It is also worth bearing in mind here that these physical connections can help connect often polarised urban and rural perspectives. For example, city dwellers could develop a more tangible understanding of how and why we should protect our environment and ecosystems.

In addition, closer connections to the countryside could promote more conscious consumer habits as customers can develop a greater connection to where their food comes from. Urban areas, particularly cities, are strikingly more diverse than their rural counterparts. Greater connections would allow for greater exposure to different cultures, ethnicities and ways of life which would create a more understanding Britain.

A final simple, but important, point that needs to be made here is that I love trains and you should too. They are a wonderful but underappreciated mode of transport. Having been lucky enough to both go interrailing and travel the beautiful Bergen to Oslo train route, I have experienced how practical, cost-effective, and enriching a train journey can be. I might add here that my friends who went “inter-coaching” did not have quite the same experience. When driving a car, you have to do exactly that, drive a car. Yes, you can listen to some music, but you can’t sit back and admire the rugged beauty of Milton Keynes whilst doing so.

Drivers are all too familiar with the warning “tiredness kills” – the only thing that tiredness kills when travelling on a train is time…. you can safely sleep that 4h 56minute journey from Birmingham New Street to Edinburgh away. Have you ever enjoyed a Tesco 3 for 2 canned cocktail whilst driving your car? Hopefully not… but guess what, you can on a train; one paid designated driver for a couple hundred people. Perhaps you fancy stretching your legs? Well saunter on down to the buffest cart and check out the Pringle selection. The possibilities are, within reason, endless. I do have a serious point here: the Beeching cuts deprived millions of an efficient, accessible and enjoyable mode of transport.

So, here is the vision. A wonderfully connected national rail service which lessens socio-economic disparity across Britain, mutually enriches the perspectives of both urban and rural communities and re-opens the possibility of localised train travel to millions nation-wide. The current situation is a far-cry from this. Train travel is plagued with cancellations, strikes and underfunded lines.

I would argue that more money needs to be invested into train travel across the UK. However, considering that the UK government’s levelling up agenda has budgeted at least £44.6 billion (2019 prices) for the just the first phase of the HS2 (a new train line that will effectively just speed up an already existing railway) it seems that there is plenty of funding available to help Britain’s rail service level up. This available investment must be redirected towards rebuilding our localised railway services, creating greater connections across Britain, and allowing more people to appreciate the glorious ingenuity of train travel.

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