Make freight an equal priority

摘要

AFTER everything we've been through, we're all back to where we were last March. Including our railways. A passionate debate was under way before Christmas about our railway's future. What will be its purpose in whatever new 'normal' emerges? How can it be rapidly evolved to play a fundamentally important part in rebooting our economy? How can the railway be best restructured to solve long-standing problems which have been swept under the carpet, sidestepped or ignored? These issues include ticketing, fares, pensions, staffing levels (yes, that nettle must finally be firmly and fairly grasped, not least by rail's trade unions), decarbonisation, electrification, effective devolution, technical innovation... and that's by no means an exhaustive list.