Good News Friday: Your weekly roundup of positive rail news!

South Western Railway kicks off partnership with Non-League Day

South Western Railway (SWR) is proud to announce that it has become an official partner of Non-League Day.

Non-League Day is a special day in the English football calendar when football fans across the country are encouraged to support their local non-league team, while Premier League and Championship football pauses for the international break. 

The annual event was established in 2010 by SWR guard James Doe, who had the idea when watching his beloved Queens Park Rangers play at non-league Tavistock Town in a pre-season friendly.

Over the last 14 years, James’ idea has grown and grown, with more and more football fans watching local non-league fixtures while the clubs they support aren’t playing.

Not only have non-league clubs seen bumper crowds on Non-League Day, they have also grown their fan bases thanks to the increased publicity and awareness of non-league football.

The event has been such a success that, last year, James was invited to Bilbao as a guest La Liga giants Athletic Bilbao, to help launch a similar initiative in the Basque Country.

Tyneside based operator, Lumo, secures prestigious Golden Whistle Award

Popular open access operator, Lumo has been awarded top rail industry recognition for the commitment by the Newcastle based company in reducing delays.

The coveted ‘Minimising Delay Minutes’ gold award was presented at the Modern Railways ‘Golden Whistle’ awards held in London on Friday 8^th March 2024.

The gold award, presented jointly to Lumo and sister-company, Hull Trains, recognises the efforts made by rail operators to reduce delays over an annual average.

Lumo demonstrated to expert industry judges a consistent reliability and performance on services under its control.

Held in partnership with the Chartered Institution of Railway Operators (CIRO), the Golden Whistle awards are a highlight in the industry calendar each year. Successful organisations are awarded one of two standards: silver or gold.  The top award in this category, gold, won by Lumo represents excellent performance, while silver highlights significant improvement.

Martijn Gilbert, Managing Director at Lumo, said: “Our customers are at the heart of all we do so it is great to get this recognition of how we’re driving down delays to help give customers even more confidence to travel by train.

“Our colleagues work incredibly hard alongside our reliable fleet of Hitachi trains to ensure the very best possible service. We continue to focus on reducing cancellations and attracting more people to our services, better connecting the communities we serve along our East Coast route.”

The awards are held annually and feature more than 10 different award categories ranging from right time arrivals to freight performance and other special awards.

The positive economic contribution of Lumo and Hull Trains was assessed by an independent report launched in February. The combined monetised benefits of Lumo and Hull Trains achieved £765m. Both companies are recording customer levels exceed pre-Covid levels by attracting people from other modes such as road and air.

Northern urges customers to get out and explore destinations across the region during English Tourism Week

Organised by Visit England, it is an annual celebration of tourism which showcases its importance to local communities and economies.

Running 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations, Northern plays an important role in helping tourists reach towns and cities across the North and experience everything they have to offer.

The train operator has a range of affordable fares available for customers, who can save up to 65% when they book tickets in advance or make use of discounts offered by the Duo and Rover tickets.

It comes after Visit England revealed people took more than 61 million day trips to destinations across the North over the last three months of 2023 and spent more than £3 billion with local businesses.

The figures show they made 31 million visits to the North West, 23 million to Yorkshire and another 7 million to the North East.

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “We connect customers to some of the best leisure destinations in the country, so they can enjoy a well-earned city break, a day at the seaside or a hike at one of our wonderful national parks.

“We would encourage anyone eager to explore the North of England during English Tourism Week to take the train and make use of the range of Advance Purchase fares and discounts we have on offer.”

Customers can take a look at Northern’s recommended day trips to inspire their next adventure. There are a range of options for the whole family, those travelling solo or taking the dog out.

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.

For more information about the data released by Visit England, visit: Great Britain Domestic Day Trips Insights | VisitBritain.org