Community Rail News – 12 January 2022

January 13, 2022

Happy New Year to you all. We hope you all had a restful and healthy festive season. Busy and exciting times lie ahead for community rail, with 2022 set to be an important year for our wider railway family working towards transition.

Great British Railways transition webinar

Community Rail Network members are invited to a webinar especially for community rail partnerships and groups on the transition to Great British Railways. Taking place 4-5pm, Tues 1 Feb, the webinar will be hosted by the GBR Transition Team, providing an introduction to the team’s role and priorities over the months and years ahead. There will be a chance to ask questions and reflect on how community rail can play an increasingly important role. Book here.

The GBR Transition Team is also inviting input into its call for evidence on the 30-year Whole Industry Strategic Plan. You have until 4 Feb, and can respond to as many or few questions as you like, providing examples from your work. Community Rail Network will be providing a comprehensive response with an array of community rail examples and evidence.

Community Rail Week

We are pleased to confirm Community Rail Week will return in 2022, building on the success of last year. We’re speaking with our partners and should be able to confirm a date shortly, however we expect the event to be in May. In addition to members holding their own events and promotions using our resources and support, this year we plan to coordinate two/three ‘big splash’ events for members to take part in. One of these will be a Community Rail Showcase, replacing our popular Community Rail in the City event, and going beyond stations to reach non-rail users. Look out for the confirmed dates being announced in the next couple of weeks here.

Project planning training

Our next online training session, on project planning, takes place on Zoom 10am-3pm on 9th Feb. It will provide a framework for planning a project, which can be used and adapted for different initiatives. There will be plenty of time to consider your own projects and discuss ideas. Book here.

New rail minister

At the end of last year, we saw the appointment of a new rail minister Wendy Morton MP and bid goodbye to friend of community rail Chris Heaton-Harris MP. We look forward to working with the new minister and showcasing the importance of community rail.

Community Rail Conference 7 & 8 March

A reminder that this year’s Community Rail Conference, in partnership with the Department for Transport, will take place Mon 7 & Tues 8 March at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nottingham.

This two-day event aimed at community rail partnerships chairs and officers will provide a chance for briefings, training and networking on a broad range of topics. The draft programme will be published shortly. It is currently planned as an in-person conference and we will be following the latest Government COVID guidelines to help keep delegates safe.

Eventbrite registration opens soon via invitation to CRPs. Please save the date and keep an eye on our events diary and your inbox for booking info.

Tackling loneliness with transport grants

A reminder that the closing date for expressions of interest for the government’s Tackling Loneliness with Transport Fund is 28 Jan, for bids of up to £500,000. See details.

Planning for 2022-23

At Community Rail Network we are in full planning mode, working on delivery plans for the coming year. Each year our members and partners shape these plans, including through our members’ survey, conversations, and our board being made up of our members. We look forward to sharing our plans as these are finalised.

As always, if you have comments or stories, please email news@communityrail.org.uk. Your next bulletin is on 26 January. Keep up-to-date in between on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Richard & Jools

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