Skip to main content

Our Blog

Our Blogs


Committed to improving the UK’s trains

22 February 2024

Committed to improving the UK’s trains

Train being built at a depot

Over the last decade, more than half of all passenger trains have been replaced or refurbished to make journeys more accessible, reliable and comfortable. That’s equivalent to 132-miles placed back-to-back, further than Newcastle to Sheffield, Cardiff to Coventry or 2,300 football pitches.

We’ve listened and made changes based on passenger feedback. But we know there is loads more for us to do as an industry to make travelling by train better.

Child smiling and looking out the window

Together, we’ve made significant investment in new and improved facilities to:

  • Make carriages more spacious and accessible, including better seating and more multi-use areas for wheelchairs, bikes and buggies
  • Introduce more at-seat charging and WiFi across our trains
  • Provide more accessible journeys for customers through improvements like level boarding and new disabled toilets – including the first mainline trains in the UK that provide level boarding at the national standard platform height, with lower floors and a retractable step at each door

Hearing directly from passengers has been invaluable. It’s informed the changes we’ve made and where we’ll focus next.

There’s so much further still to go to make sure we’re providing that standard of service that every customer deserves.

See what we’ve been working on in the video below:


Headshot of Dan Mann

"Over the past decade a huge amount of investment has gone into new and refurbished trains for our customers. People’s needs and what they expect on board have changed and we need to adapt with them.

We have a made a huge amount of progress in renewing rolling stock and it shows what can be achieved when all parts of the rail industry are working together. We want to encourage people to travel by train, which is why investment in rolling stock is so vital.

Dan Mann,
Director of Industry Operations - Rail Delivery Group


Committing to change: creating a diverse and inclusive culture

07 November 2023

Last month, many organisations celebrated Black History Month through several educational events, with the key theme being 'celebrating our sisters'. This theme extended and intersected with events on Menopause awareness including how it affects women from all cultures and ethnicities. During the month, we also saw our people share their stories on other important matters too, including Disability and Neurodiversity. It is important that we take opportunities like this to educate ourselves, listen to the experiences and difficulties faced by our colleagues and commit to support them through allyship.

Jac Starr on the launch of the EDI Charter

17 October 2023

Yesterday evening, I spoke at the launch of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Charter for Rail Annual Report 2023. The report celebrates the very best work carried out in the industry by Charter signatories over the last year, with submissions from over 40 organisations.

EDI is a subject that I am very passionate about. It was really inspiring for me to be in a room filled with people who care about this subject and want to make a difference. The challenge is real. How do we create more inclusive and diverse workplaces within our industry? How do we enable our staff to be at their best, and to attract and retain a diverse range of talented people to join us?

Striving for a simpler, better railway for you

29 September 2023

Blog by Jacqueline Starr, CEO of Rail Delivery Group.

Our purpose at the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) is to create a simpler, better railway for everyone in Britain – but what does that mean when you break it down?

In this section