Building on its proud pioneering past, the railway continues to innovate and develop new and better ways of improving journeys for more passengers, carrying more of the essential goods we need and want, and overcoming current challenges on a busy network.
As the railway becomes more digitally-driven, new skills will be learned and new jobs created for people from all backgrounds.
Improvements covering areas like track, trains, ticketing, timetables and technology are too many to list here. But here are some examples of major projects currently in progress:
As well as these developments, the railway is working with government to deliver the biggest change in a generation to how it is run. The creation of a single organisation – Great British Railways (GBR) – to oversee and bring together both the tracks and the trains will help to make the railway simpler to use, better at supporting local and national ambitions, and more efficient to run.
Ahead of GBR launching, progress is being made towards a more joined up railway today. Find out more.
In addition, there are exciting plans for rail freight, an engine for green growth. The Government has announced a target to grow rail freight by no less than 75% by 2050 across Britain, removing 12 million HGV movements a year from our congested roads. Rail freight already contributes £2.45 billion to the UK economy every year.
Over the next 200 years the railway will continue to play a central role in British life and national prosperity.