If Railfuture worked as one body and decided which, (by holding a national vote) was the most important line to reopen then badgering ALL the MPs▸ about say reopening Colne to Skipton, it would have far greater chance of being Authorised.
Railfuture does produce and publish a key campaign list - it's at
https://www.railfuture.org.uk/Campaigns . Policy such as this is formulated by inputs from the 14 regions to the special interest groups and correlated overseen by the policy director. Overall policy is confirmed (by vote) at the Railfuture
AGM▸ - a national meeting open for all 2,000 members to attend if they wish.
Key campaigns
* Fares must be clearly explained and value for money and tickets must offer a choice of flexibility in time and routes.
* Northern powerhouse. Linking the great Northern cities of Liverpool, Preston, Manchester, Sheffield, Bradford, Leeds and Hull by a fast, high capacity rail network will create a single strategic economic entity to realise the economic potential of the region.
* Oxford - Cambridge. Reopening the railway throughout between Oxford and Cambridge is an economic development project, not just a rail development.
* Thameslink 2. A new route between Stratford and East Croydon via Canary Wharf will relieve congestion at London Bridge and on the Brighton Main Line, and connect northeast and southeast London with the growing economic centre of Docklands.
* Uckfield - Lewes. Reinstating this line will promote economic growth in East Sussex and Brighton, and create a second route between London and the South Coast.
* Wisbech. Wisbech is one of the largest towns in the UK▸ without a railway station; reopening this freight line will provide access to employment in the growth area of Cambridge.
* Missing links. Railfuture is campaigning for new rail lines to be opened, and some closed lines to be reopened, to increase capacity and resilience in the strategic network by creating alternative routes between major centres, to provide additional metro services for our growing cities, and to connect isolated towns.
* New Stations. As new communities and business locations are created, so new and reopened stations are needed to serve them.
* Go and compare. Railfuture searches for examples of best practice worldwide which can be applied in Britain.
I could write you a long (even for me) piece about the system for selecting and promoting key campaigns and other campaigns supported. Some elements are good (and many of them are hidden), others are well intended but uncoupled and could do with significant rethinks for the modern era, and some are plain poor. A national poll of individual members would tend to prioritise popular schemes irrespective of their practicality, and would tend to prioritise large schemes with large price tags over more local schemes with little (ha, ha) price tags.
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