Rail Key to Driving Regional Economic Growth and Achieving Net Zero Ambitions, New Research Reveals

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Latest research reveals the value of railways to the East Midlands economy, environment, and society exceeds £750m in benefits delivered each year. 


Boosting rail use by 40% by 2035 could see this value increase to £1.35bn supporting economic growth and the transition to net zero. 


Data shows that rail customers are essential to local communities, contributing £2.1bn annually with their spending while travelling in East Midlands. 
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Latest research reveals the value of railways to the East Midlands economy, environment, and society exceeds £750m in benefits delivered each year. 


Boosting rail use by 40% by 2035 could see this value increase to £1.35bn supporting economic growth and the transition to net zero. 


Data shows that rail customers are essential to local communities, contributing £2.1bn annually with their spending while travelling in East Midlands. 
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Latest research reveals the value of railways to the East Midlands economy, environment, and society exceeds £750m in benefits delivered each year. 


Boosting rail use by 40% by 2035 could see this value increase to £1.35bn supporting economic growth and the transition to net zero. 


Data shows that rail customers are essential to local communities, contributing £2.1bn annually with their spending while travelling in East Midlands. 
" /> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://gloo.to/F5Zt" /> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://cdn.prgloo.com/media/000e96e6243d4459a5346e4227c70063.jpg?width=968&height=1452" /> <style type="text/css"> :root{--link-colour:#1c355e;--link-hover-colour:#046b99;--quote-accent-colour:#1c355e;--button-bg:#1c355e;--button-hover-bg:#24457a;--thumbnail-accent-colour:#1c355e;--nav-accent-colour:#1c355e}:root{--focus-colour:#1c355e;--card-title-hover-colour:#046b99}.main-content[aria-label*="His Royal Highness The Prince Philip"] .grid--resources{display:none} </style> </head> <body class="pg-news"> <div class="frame"> <noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-KQNTNW7" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <header class="header" role="banner"> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="skip-link" href='#body-content'>Skip to content</a> <div class="header__logo"> <a class="header__logo-link" href="https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/"> <img class="header__logo-image" src="https://cdn.prgloo.com/web/RDG/RailDeliveryGroupLogo.png" alt="Rail Delivery Group"> </a> </div> </div> <button class="menu-btn" aria-label="Navigation Menu" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false"> <span></span> </button> </header> <nav class="navbar" role="navigation"> <div class="wrapper"> <div class="navigation"> <ul class="navigation__list"> <li class="navigation__item "> <a class="navigation__link" href="/" > <span class="navigation__text"> Home </span> </a> </li> <li class="navigation__item selected"> <a class="navigation__link" href="/news" aria-current=page> <span class="navigation__text"> News </span> </a> </li> <li class="navigation__item "> <a class="navigation__link" href="/resources" > <span class="navigation__text"> Resources </span> </a> </li> <li class="navigation__item "> <a class="navigation__link" href="/contact-us" > <span class="navigation__text"> Contact Us </span> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <main id="body-content" class="main-content" role="main" aria-label="Rail Key to Driving Regional Economic Growth and Achieving Net Zero Ambitions, New Research Reveals | Rail Delivery Group News page main content area"> <div class="wrapper wrapper--content wrapper--article">  <article class="article" role="region" aria-label="Rail Key to Driving Regional Economic Growth and Achieving Net Zero Ambitions, New Research Reveals content"> <section class="card story"> <figure class="story__hero"> <img class="story__hero-image" src="https://cdn.prgloo.com/media/000e96e6243d4459a5346e4227c70063.jpg?width=968&height=1452" alt="53057987623 df53aeb764 o" /> </figure> <div class="card__body card__body--story"> <time class="story__date" datetime="2024-11-14 00:01">14 Nov 2024</time> <h1 class="story__title">Rail Key to Driving Regional Economic Growth and Achieving Net Zero Ambitions, New Research Reveals</h1> <div class="story__summary"> <ul> <li>Latest research reveals the value of railways to the East Midlands economy, environment, and society exceeds £750m in benefits delivered each year. </li> </ul> <ul> <li>Boosting rail use by 40% by 2035 could see this value increase to £1.35bn supporting economic growth and the transition to net zero. </li> </ul> <ul> <li>Data shows that rail customers are essential to local communities, contributing £2.1bn annually with their spending while travelling in East Midlands. </li> </ul> </div> <div class="story__body"> <p style="text-align: justify">New research from WPI Economics, commissioned by Rail Delivery Group, reveals that the rail industry generated £750m in economic, environmental, and social benefits to East Midlands over the past year, with rail customers contributing £2.1bn through spending in local communities. </p> <p style="text-align: justify">With the rail network facilitating thousands of journeys each day in the region, its impact on the local economy is significant, playing a key role in the productivity of cities and towns in East Midlands. Across the country, the industry directly employs over 103,000 people in varying roles – from station staff and train drivers to underwater divers and seasons delivery managers. </p> <p style="text-align: justify"><strong>Unlocking future growth potential in </strong><strong>East Midlands</strong> </p> <p style="text-align: justify">Beyond its current contributions, the rail industry has significant potential for further growth, boosting the East Midlands and the national economy. According to projections by the Railway Industry Association (RIA), rail travel is expected to grow by an average of 1.6% annually over the next three decades. This would equate to a 20% increase in rail usage by 2035, potentially raising the industry’s contribution from £750m to £1.03bn in East Midlands and to £35bn in Great Britain. </p> <p style="text-align: justify">If rail usage were to increase by 40%, driven by improved services and a growing preference for rail as a sustainable mode of transport, the total value of the rail industry in East Midlands could soar to £1.35bn, significantly benefitting the economic, environmental, and social landscape in the region. </p> <p style="text-align: justify">To make that possible and unlock the potential, it is important the rail industry continues to work together to bolster the attractiveness of rail to customers. Alongside future government investment in infrastructure, future growth also depends on action from the rail industry to improve day-to-day performance; to encourage modal shift through better integration with other modes of transport; make rail accessible to everyone; and continue to make improvements to the overall customer experience.     </p> <p style="text-align: justify"><strong>Supporting the transition to net zero </strong> </p> <p style="text-align: justify">For every mile a person travels, passenger trains produce only around a fifth of the greenhouse gas emissions from the average petrol car. This latest research finds that a 40% growth in rail use is needed by 2035 to shift a minimum of four billion miles from car to train, to achieve the country’s net zero targets in line with the Committee on Climate Change (CCC)’s preferred pathway. For East Midlands, this would mean a 0.09Mt decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and a 7m hours decrease of congestion. </p> <p style="text-align: justify"><strong>Customers at the centre of local economies in East Midlands</strong> </p> <p>Businesses located in and around rail stations are vital to local economies. In East Midlands, rail passengers spend £2.1bn to support local economies when they travel by rail. <div class="gloo-img-embed"><img src="//cdn.prgloo.com/media/294142f2ade64c3aac36bd08efaddd21?width=388&height=218" alt="East Midlands" width="388" height="218" class="gloo-img-right"></div></p> <p style="text-align: justify">As well as supporting local businesses and communities, people travelling by rail are providing a boost to local independent businesses - passengers in East Midlands annually contribute £110m to independent businesses in the region.    </p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify"><strong>Jacqueline Starr, CEO of Rail Delivery Group</strong> <strong>said</strong>: “The UK’s rail network does more than simply transport us from A to B; it plays a crucial role in driving economic growth by connecting businesses and communities, improving productivity, and supporting the transition to net zero.   </p> <p style="text-align: justify">“The creation of Great British Railways is an opportunity for the rail industry to come together and make the improvements that are needed to attract more people to rail, unlocking even greater value for the economy, environment, and wider society.  </p> <p style="text-align: justify">“Rail can and must be the backbone of the country’s future growth and environmental ambitions."     </p> <p style="text-align: justify"><strong>A spokesperson for UKHospitality said:</strong> “This insightful report reinforces what we know about the importance of train travel for hospitality and tourism. Trains help bring our customers – domestic and international and our employees to our doors, so we can deliver great experiences and boost economic growth. </p> <p style="text-align: justify">“We are looking forward to working with the rail industry to further grow the opportunities to reach all parts of our nation and spread the benefits of the hospitality sector.” </p> </blockquote> </div> </div> </section> <section class="card"> <div class="card__body card__body--large"> <h2 class="sub-header">Contact Information</h2> <div class="contact-card"> <h3 class="contact-card__title">Rail Delivery Group Media Team</h3> <p class="contact-card__text"> <a href="mailto:media@raildeliverygroup.com">media@raildeliverygroup.com</a> </p> </div> </div> </section> <section class="card"> <div class="card__body card__body--large"> <h2 class="sub-header">Notes to editors</h2> <div> <ul> <li>The full report “Beyond the tracks: Rail's contribution to the UK” is available <a href="https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/uk-rail-industry/value-of-rail.html">here</a>.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>The £26bn value of rail across the country is made up of:   <ul> <li> <strong>The total benefits to passengers are worth £14bn</strong> <strong>each year</strong> – these are the benefits that flow to the people that use the railways to commute to jobs, to travel to see friends and family, to get to shops and restaurants, to go on holiday, to get to places of education and a wide range of other purposes.  </li> <li><strong>The total value of decreased congestion is worth £8bn each year – </strong>this includes the benefits to people and businesses from reduced congestion on the roads, e.g. lorries suffering fewer delays when moving goods or tradespeople being able to do more jobs in a day due to lower congestion.  </li> <li>The <strong>additional £4bn annual benefits</strong> included here reflect the value of decreased emissions and the wider economic impacts of rail not captured in the totals above, such as the role it plays in enabling the clustering of businesses and services together, which supports efficiency, productivity and knowledge-sharing. </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <ul> <li>The £750m value of East Midlands is made up of:    <ul> <li>£390m- passenger benefits  </li> <li>£200m - decreased congestion </li> <li>£160m - additional annual benefits  </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <ul> <li>WPI Economics were commissioned to carry out a study of the economic, social and environmental benefits of rail by Rail Delivery Group. This included a representative sample of 5,007 people within the UK who had travelled by rail within the last month. This sample was boosted by a further 2,017 people whose last rail journey was from one of 20 selected cities and 1,007 people whose last rail journey was from one of the 20 selected towns. The survey was in field from 09.04.24 - 13.05.24. </li> <li>Latest report on the value of Community Rail report can be found <a href="https://communityrail.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/VoCR-report-24-FINAL-FOR-WEB.pdf">here</a>.  </li> </ul> </div> </div> </section> </article> <aside class="grid grid--resources" role="region" aria-label="Rail Key to Driving Regional Economic Growth and Achieving Net Zero Ambitions, New Research Reveals attachments"> <div class="card"> <div class="card__thumbnail"> <img class="card__thumbnail-image" src="https://cdn.prgloo.com/media/000e96e6243d4459a5346e4227c70063.jpg?width=442&height=663" alt="53057987623 df53aeb764 o"> </div> <div class="card__body"> <h2 class="card__title card__title--center"> <a class="card__link" href="/resources/53057987623-df53aeb764-o">53057987623 df53aeb764 o</a> </h2> <div class="card__toolbar"> <button class="card__action button" onclick="document.location='https://cdn.prgloo.com/media/download/000e96e6243d4459a5346e4227c70063'" aria-label="Download 53057987623_df53aeb764_o.jpg">Download</button> </div> </div> </div> <div class="card"> <div class="card__thumbnail"> <img class="card__thumbnail-image" src="https://cdn.prgloo.com/media/294142f2ade64c3aac36bd08efaddd21.png?width=442&height=663" alt="East Midlands"> </div> <div class="card__body"> <h2 class="card__title card__title--center"> <a class="card__link" href="/resources/east-midlands">East Midlands</a> </h2> <div class="card__toolbar"> <button class="card__action button" onclick="document.location='https://cdn.prgloo.com/media/download/294142f2ade64c3aac36bd08efaddd21'" aria-label="Download East Midlands.png">Download</button> </div> </div> </div> </aside> </div> </main> <footer class="footer" role="contentinfo"> <div class="wrapper"> <div class="footer__grid footer__grid--v"> <div class="widget-link"> <a href="https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/privacy-notice.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" title="Privacy Policy">Privacy Policy</a> </div> <div class="widget-link"> <a href="https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/accessibility-statement.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" title="Accessibility">Accessibility</a> </div> <div class="footer__social social-links"> <ul class="social-links__list"> <li class="social-links__item twitter"> <a class="social-links__link" href="https://x.com/raildeliverygrp" target="gloo" title="Twitter" aria-label="Twitter"> <span class="social-links__icon icon-twitter"></span> <span class="social-links__title">Twitter</span> </a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="footer__meta"> <p class="footer__cookiesettings"><a class="ccb__edit" href="#cc_target">Cookie Settings</a></p> <p class="footer__copyright">© 2024 Rail Delivery Group</p> <p class="footer__gloo">Powered by <a href="https://onclusive.com/what-we-do/pr-comms-tools/">Onclusive PR Manager</a>™</p> </div> </div> </div> </footer> <script src="/Content/Gloo/js?v=PBdeyRJo_62HKCRHd8XrAslyv71LWP3cvl77Rg4FA4c1"></script> <script src="/Content/Shared/slick.min.js"></script> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div> </body> </html>

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