Citizens' Rail

Category: Project-wide news

  • Celebrating Burnley Manchester Road

    Celebrating Burnley Manchester Road

    A celebratory event was held today to mark the investment of £2.3m investment in Burnley’s Manchester Road railway station and launch a new campaign to market East Lancashire’s attractions to rail visitors.

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    As part of the Citizens’ Rail project, work took place over the last 18 months to provide the station with an iconic station building with improved car and cycle parking, CCTV, real time information and improved signage, before services began running on the direct Blackburn to Manchester service via the newly restored Todmorden Curve.

    The Explore East Lancashire marketing campaign will highlight the faster connection as an opportunity to visit the area’s attractions. Posters and leaflets (download a copy, 0.4MB) supporting the campaign will be displayed at stations between Blackburn and Manchester along with artwork previously produce by pupils from Padiham Green primary school.

    Representatives of Burnley Borough Council, Lancashire County Council, Northern Rail, Community Rail Lancashire and Citizens’ Rail gathered to unveil a plaque marking the station investment and enjoy presentations by pupils from Padiham Green Primary School. The first was about the history of the station, and the second told the story of a stickleback called ‘small fry’ that was sucked into the water tank of an engine at Rose Grove and then went on a journey to Manchester and back via the Todmorden Curve. Read the full story in the children’s excellent hand-made book, Operation Stickleback (5MB PDF).

    Councillor Mark Townsend, leader of Burnley Council, said: ‘‘Visitors to Burnley Manchester Road Station are predicted to double now the direct service to Manchester has been established. We’re delighted to have a direct service to Manchester from Burnley once again. It will bring clear benefits to our economy in terms of access to the job market and establishing Burnley as a commuter town. It’s a real milestone in our continuing success story and one we wish to celebrate.”

    Alex Hynes, managing director for Northern Rail comments: “What a fantastic opportunity to celebrate all that has been achieved from a solid partnership approach. Working together with Lancashire County Council, we have promoted a brand new, direct service into Manchester to the communities, towns and villages across Lancashire, which we hope will bring more opportunities than ever to this growing part of our network.”

    Citizens’ Rail project manager, Richard Burningham of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership said: “The Citizens’ Rail partners, from France, Germany and the Netherlands as well as here in the UK, are delighted to have helped make this brilliant transformation of Burnley Manchester Road station a reality.”

    County Councillor John Fillis, Lancashire County Council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Improving transport connections is vital to our ambitions to create the conditions for future economic growth in East Lancashire.

    “We’re working hard to develop the case for the government and the rail industry to invest in the infrastructure to improve journey times and frequency, as well as modern rolling stock and station facilities.

    “The restored Todmorden Curve and improved stations in Burnley represent a real step forward but this is just the start of what we need in future.”

    Funding for the station improvements was provided by Burnley Council, Lancashire County Council and the Citizens’ Rail Interreg IVB project. A further £100,000 was secured from the National Station Improvement Programme (NSIP) by Northern Rail/Network Rail to support the platform works including the new passenger shelters.

  • Storytelling as a way to engage the community

    Storytelling as a way to engage the community

    Our French partner, Région Pays de la Loire, has helped local residents to (re)discover their local station through the timeless appeal of storytelling.

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    20 people – young and old – from Penhoët (the area around Saint-Nazaire’s docks) joined a pair of actors from local theatre troupe la Caravane Compagnie for a trip entitled “The Imaginary Journey”. The experience began on foot, exploring iconic spots in the local neighbourhood, including the market hall shown below, and recounting tales of the shipyard workers, for whom Penhoët station was originally built.

    The next part of the journey was by train to Nantes. None of the children on the walk had ever taken a regional train before, and only two had ever been on a high speed train. Asked about their first impressions, the children’s answers were striking: “comfortable”, “quick”, “convenient” – all showing that the day had sparked a desire to explore the regional rail network more in future.

    Upon arrival in Nantes, SNCF’s Marco Martinelli gave a tour of the station, answering the many questions from the families about the workings of the station and the logistics of travelling by train.

    Children and parents were then invited to design their own “Imaginary Journey” in the comfort of a dedicated room provided by SNCF. After the real-life train journey earlier in the day, the imagination took hold – with some of the ideas generated including trains on the moon, and even trains that can cross oceans. The artwork produced will be put on public display this summer and throughout the improvement works scheduled at Penhoët station.

    To say thank you, the Région and SNCF presented the children with a “passport”, giving them free travel on the Pays de la Loire network for two months. Inspired by a similar scheme by their fellow Citizens’ Rail partners Community Rail Lancashire, the passport is more than a souvenir of the day. It acts as an educational tool and makes commercial sense in terms of encouraging whole families to travel by rail more frequently.

    On the return journey, the actors told stories on the train using children’s books about dramatic railways around the world, from the Flying Scotsman to the Orient Express.

    The project was organised in partnership with the events team of housing association la Maison de Quartier Méan-Penhoët. They emphasised that the key to making the event work was to have in depth discussions in advance, and to gradually build the content of the journey by working together.

    The project succeeded in its goal of linking the past and the future, by directly appealing to local residents and organisations, and by making full use of the regional network. The storytellers’ theatrical narrative meant that the event was immersed in the cultural identity of the Penhoët neighbourhood’s history and identity.

  • European Conference on Mobility Management

    European Conference on Mobility Management

    Citizens’ Rail’s academic team gave a presentation today at the European Conference on Mobility Management (ECOMM 2015) in Utrecht.

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    In a positive example of transnational working, Nick Davies (University of Central Lancashire, UK), Marco Trienes (RWTH Aachen University, Germany) and Dominik Elsmann (formerly of RWTH Aachen University, now at Aachen’s transport authority, AVV) spoke on the topic of “Understanding Citizens’ Rail: how marketing and social outreach can encourage involvement by the public in their rail services and change attitudes towards rail” (see slides below).

    Their key messages included the need for less complex, more flexible ticketing, more human presence at stations, the success of the marketing of interventions (75% of respondents had heard of the local improvements taking place as part of the Citizens’ Rail project), and the importance of involving people in local railways.

    The presentation formed part of the “Understanding the user” session at the conference.





    And here is some reaction on Twitter from a Belgian attendee at the conference:




  • Presentation to UK Rail Minister

    Presentation to UK Rail Minister

    Citizens’ Rail was in the spotlight this week at a Community Rail Marketplace event at the UK’s Department for Transport.

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    Richard Burningham, manager of our lead partner the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, delivered a presentation about the Citizens’ Rail project to an audience including high level Department for Transport officials and national and local representatives from the community rail sector.

    The Rail Partnership also had a stall at the event, promoting Citizens’ Rail and other projects, which was visited by Rail Minister Claire Perry and Clare Moriarty, Department for Transport Rail Director General.

    The Marketplace brought together Community Rail Partnerships from across the country as part of the Department for Transport’s Learning at Work Week. The Marketplace was organised by Kul Bassi, Community Rail Team Leader at the Department for Transport and aimed to raise awareness of the Community Rail world among civil servants.

  • Burnley gets direct trains to Manchester

    Burnley gets direct trains to Manchester

    Complementing Burnley Manchester Road’s new station building, funded by Citizens’ Rail, the town now has a direct rail service to Manchester for the first time in four decades.

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    Following a multi-million pound investment and almost a decade of partnership work between Burnley Council, Network Rail, Lancashire County Council and Northern Rail, on Sunday 17th May 2015 the direct Blackburn to Manchester via Burnley service returned to the region.

    Northern, a Serco and Abellio joint venture operated the historic first train, over 40 years after the closure of the Todmorden Curve in 1972, following the completion and opening of the line by Network Rail. This morning there was a community celebration at Burnley Manchester Road and Accrington stations to herald a new chapter in rail travel and the start of a range of benefits for the two communities.

    Commuters were welcomed with tea, coffee, muffins and a ‘goodie bag’ at Burnley Manchester Road and Accrington stations, handed out by teams from Northern, Burnley Council, the East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership and Lancashire County Council.

    The scheme was part-funded from the government’s Regional Growth Fund. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said:

    “This government is committed to transforming rail services across the North of England as part of our ambitious plans to build a Northern Powerhouse. Todmorden Curve is an example of the significant investment being made in the region’s rail network, in order to provide more seats, more services and better journeys for passengers. It will make a real difference by opening up better access to job opportunities, helping to secure economic growth.”

    Alex Hynes, Managing Director of Northern Rail, comments:

    “We would be delighted to welcome our local community to our stations to help us and our partners celebrate this milestone in railway history. We’re committed to bringing better services, improved stations and a wealth of local opportunities to the region and this new service is a positive step in the right direction for all concerned.”

    County Councillor John Fillis, Lancashire County Council cabinet member for highways and transport, said:

    “It is a fantastic achievement by everyone involved to re-establish the direct service from Burnley to Manchester which will extend opportunities for local people and have a real impact on the economy. It shows what can be achieved when partner organisations are clear about their priorities and work closely together to deliver them. The working relationships established will be instrumental in the ongoing transformation of rail services in East Lancashire. I look forward to the service being a great success, paving the way for better trains and faster journey times in the future.”

    Councillor Mark Townsend, Leader of Burnley Council, said:

    “We’re delighted to have a direct service to Manchester from Burnley once again. It will bring clear benefits to our economy in terms of access to the job market and establishing Burnley as a commuter town. Our outstanding countryside is even easier to reach for visitors. It’s a real milestone in our continuing success story and one we wish to celebrate.”

    Terry Strickland, area director for Network Rail, said:

    “The reopened Todmorden Curve is a significant improvement to the railway in this part of the country and will allow services to run directly between Manchester Victoria and Burnley Manchester Road for the first time since the 1960s. We have worked closely with Burnley Council, Lancashire County Council and Northern Rail to make this happen and it is an excellent example of partnership working to help deliver a better railway for passengers.”

    Get train times and tickets on Northern Rail’s Burnley-Manchester mini-website.

  • Transnational poster by German and British schools

    Transnational poster by German and British schools

    An eye-catching poster has been designed to celebrate the Citizens’ Rail school trip from Lancashire, UK, to Aachen in Germany and Heerlen in the Netherlands.

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    Every child from Padiham Green CE Primary School (pictured above) and Aachener Domsingschule (pictured below) who took part in the trip contributed to the artwork during their joint classroom session in Aachen. The poster takes the form of a finger labyrinth, and is entitled The Distance Between. Using your finger, you can trace your journey from Padiham in the centre of the labyrinth to either Aachen or Heerlen on the outside.

    The poster was coordinated by artist Alastair Nicholson, who travelled with the Lancashire party and has contributed to many railway-related art projects with our partners Community Rail Lancashire.

    During their four-day stay in November 2014, the Padiham Green pupils received an official welcome at Aachen City Hall, singing lessons with their new Aachen school friends, scaled viewpoints where they could see three countries at once, and even visited the zoo. The trip was the children’s well-earned reward for delivering a fantastic presentation and warm welcome to Citizens’ Rail’s European partners during their meeting in Lancashire in July 2014.

    The children raised funds through various events at school to contribute towards the visit. Additional funding for the trip was provided by Citizens’ Rail, the DCRDF Fund, UK German Connection and Abellio.

    Children from the Domsingschule pose with their poster:

     

  • Station improvements – good news from Aachen

    Station improvements – good news from Aachen

    Citizens’ Rail’s station improvement projects have taken another step forward thanks to a pair of positive council verdicts about Eilendorf station.

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    This month the city’s mobility committee and Aachen-Eilendorf district council both agreed that the transformation of the station should move to the next stage of planning.

    The current station has very poor access for people wishing to get from one platform to the other, involving a long walk via the bridge to the west or tunnel to the east. Passengers have been known to illegally cross the tracks.

    The centre piece of the proposed design is a bridge with barrier-free access. This emerged as the best solution through close engagement with the local community as part of the Citizens’ Rail project. This included consultation events attended by approximately 50 people held in the local neighbourhood.

    Read more about the project on Aachen City Council’s Eilendorf page (in German).

  • Transnational masterclass in Preston

    Transnational masterclass in Preston

    Students from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK took part in a two-day Citizens’ Rail masterclass in Preston this week to generate new ways to promote rail travel.

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    Hosted by the University of Central Lancashire’s Institute of Transport and Tourism, the event included site visits to Burnley and Blackpool, expert speakers from Marketing Lancashire, Abellio, Lancashire County Council, Burnley Borough Council and Blackpool Borough Council, and workshop sessions where the students worked in transnational groups.

    The students were from four institutions: UCLAN and Plymouth University in the UK, RWTH Aachen University in Germany and Zuyd Hogeschool in the Netherlands.


    Presentations by the students:
    The students generated marketing campaigns aimed at different groups including commuters, families and tourists. They presented their results to an audience of rail and marketing practitioners:




    Photos from the masterclass:


    Visiting Burnley Manchester Road’s new station building with Richard Watts, Lancashire County Council

    Children from Padiham Green Primary School pose for the students next to their artwork in the station’s community room

    Hard at work at Victoria Mill in Burnley

    Exploring Blackpool’s tourist appeal as the sun sets

    Abellio’s Jeremy Whitaker advises the students on rail marketing

    What happens next?

    Our partner organisations within the Citizens’ Rail project are keen to bring the students’ insight and marketing ideas to life. We will be discussing which of the concepts we can put into practice during the spring and summer, prior to the project’s final conference in Torquay, UK, on 1st October 2015.

    Keep in touch with the latest from Citizens’ Rail – sign up for our quarterly enewsletter.



  • All aboard the Citizens’ Rail train

    All aboard the Citizens’ Rail train

    The Citizens’ Rail project is now being promoted across the South West of England thanks to a new train livery unveiled last week.

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    Train operator First Great Western – heavily involved in our Riviera Line project – kindly offered to rebrand the Class 153 train to coincide with our latest partner meeting. On Thursday 5th March, our French, German, Dutch and UK partners travelled to Swindon for a meeting at First Great Western headquarters, and then saw their unmissable red train arrive at the station. The “photo bubbles” on the train show the different types of community engagement undertaken during the project, ranging from our family Minibeast Trail, to transnational student masterclasses, to work with volunteers.

    The unit (number 153325) will now travel the First Great Western network spreading the word about the project. It’s already been spotted at stations including Totnes and Dawlish (see final photo below), where it was described as “rather stunning” by one commentator, Colin J. Marsden, editor of the Dawlish Trains website.

    A second train livery, promoting travelling to South Devon by train, is also currently in production. The units were in need of rebranding as they were in London Midland rather than First Great Western colours. See more photos:

    © Colin J. Marsden, DawlishTrains.com. Click image to see large version (5MB).

    Video at Torre station by William Spencer. (15 seconds into the video, you can see Torre’s new shelter, constructed as part of the Citizens’ Rail project.)



  • Our work-in-progress “toolkit”

    Our work-in-progress “toolkit”

    We’ve been working hard behind-the-scenes on our upcoming Citizens’ Rail toolkit, which is now rapidly taking shape. Here’s an update…

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    Set to be launched this summer, the toolkit will be an online guide to inspire more people in the UK and abroad about community rail, and to give them the advice and knowledge to make things happen.

    It will be full of examples, photos and videos of great projects. This will range from the French station that is now home to a thriving creche, to the award-winning “passport” scheme run by Community Rail Lancashire to engage local schools with their railway. All of this will be organised under four main themes:

    • Creating better stations
    • Bringing lines to life
    • Getting people involved
    • Evaluating your success

    The finished mini-website will be aimed at audiences including the rail industry, local, regional and national government, other public sector organisations and of course CRPs and volunteers.

    We realise that appealing to all of these groups is a tough challenge. However we’ve received some excellent feedback about how to make the toolkit useful, attractive and effective.

    Last autumn we ran workshop sessions about it at ACoRP’s North and South seminars and at the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership conference. Along with regular discussions with our UK, French, Dutch and German partners, the workshops generated some extremely helpful ideas about what the toolkit needs to look like, prioritise and include. A helping hand also comes from all the resources already out there, like ACoRP’s Station Adoption guide. We won’t try to duplicate or compete with these – instead we will highlight and link to them.

    Once we have a working draft of the toolkit (something we’re beavering away at as we speak), then we hope to share it with members of our target audiences in order to “road test” it. Following any tweaks, we will then create French and German language versions to increase its potential audience on the continent.

    Even after it has been launched, we hope that the toolkit will continue to grow, thanks to contributions from the community rail sector and others. Readers will be able to share their own advice and experience by adding comments and suggesting new case studies to be featured. In this way we are aiming for the toolkit to provide a long-lasting legacy for the Citizens’ Rail project, which comes to a close this autumn.

    To hear more about the toolkit and to be notified about its launch later in the year, sign up to receive the quarterly Citizens’ Rail e-newsletter.