We’ve restored lost railway connections – and made new ones – over the past five years. All to help you stay connected to others and access even more work, education and leisure opportunities.
We’re looking back at some of our work to bring you more connections and better rail journeys over the past five years.
It comes as we reach the end of our latest five-year budgeting and planning period, known in the rail industry as Control Period six.
Restoring railway connections
The Restoring Your Railway Fund programme helped us – and industry partners – return passenger services between Exeter and Okehampton for the first time in more than 50 years.
We also reconnected Leven in Fife to the network for the first time in more than 50 years thanks to a £116m Scottish Government investment. The fully electrified line will boost sustainability and the area’s economy.
Plus, we restored other connections across Scotland with new stations at East Linton, Kintore and Reston for the first time in almost 60 years.
New stations
We also built a brand-new Inverness Airport station. It’s just 10 minutes from the Highlands city, helping to relieve road traffic and carbon emissions.
Down South, a new station at Soham opened in Cambridgeshire in 2021 – 56 years after the last passenger train called there.
Portway Park and Ride opened on the Severn Beach line in Bristol. It gives you another sustainable route into city centre and to other destinations along the line as well as connections to the wider network.
Reading Green Park station opened for business in May 2023. You can now catch a service every 30 minutes in each direction on the Reading to Basingstoke line.
We also brought you Kent’s first new railway station in eight years – Thanet Parkway. It gives you high-speed services into London and has already been used by over 10,000 people.
We’re passionate about connecting more and more communities by rail – and we’ll continue this important work in the next five years, too.