As this edition is published, the new 2023 UK National Rail Map will be available for delivery before Christmas. When days are short and the temperatures low, it’s a great time to plan ahead for when the weather is more conducive to days out for leisure. One I am looking forward to doing for this column is a visit to Dumfries House – one of our King’s most impressive projects – near Auchinleck, East Ayrshire, accessed via Carlisle once a certain freight train which had an accident is out of the way. I hope to write it up for January or February.
The new map features useful websites for travellers, and of these I am particularly looking forward to the new Great Scenic Journeys initiative, promoting the UK’s best bus and rail routes. The other websites I recommend on the map are:
roam-everywhere.com
Nationalrail.com
Streetmap.co.uk
Seatfrog.com
Bustimes.org
There have been absolutely no changes to operators and brands this year. The franchise system having collapsed at the time of the pandemic, all operators are either state owned already (like LNER and Northern, for example) or are run as management contracts. This gives very little incentive to encourage entrepreneurial revenue development, since all the revenue passes to the government. As I write, many commentators are seeing a deep paralysis in the rail industry, with few operators wanting to start any new initiatives, although LNER for one has shown itself willing to raise its head above the parapet. One of the most obvious changes has been the opening of the family waiting room at King’s Cross. On the mainline network there has been but one station opening at Reston in the Scottish Borders.
The hopelessly late and over budget Elizabeth Line, linking Paddington to Liverpool Street, has nevertheless wowed the public with architecturally brilliant stations, wide platforms, air-conditioned trains and impressively reduced journey times. Through running from Reading and Heathrow to Shenfield and Abbey Wood is part way there and nearly complete, and all the new stations are shown on the map, with their three letter codes. The Elizabeth Line was shown first as under construction in our 2009 map so it has taken some time to come to fruition.
One other significant new station is Barking Riverside, which is an extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking London Overground Line. The new station is at the heart of the as yet unbuilt Barking Riverside development, and is an excellent example of public transport being developed before people move to an area instead of long afterwards.
Some of the other stations which we expected to open for the new map are still resolutely under construction and we look forward to the eventual opening of stations like Reading Green Park and Brent Cross West. Our shovel symbol shows all stations reasonably likely to open in a few years, but is subject to change following government policy, e.g. the scrapping of parts of HS2.
Dunfermline in Scotland was created a City in 2022 and therefore the station known as Dunfermline Town has had to be renamed Dunfermline City. This was challenging for many of the legacy systems on the railway, but in terms of the map, the revision was made in a matter of seconds. Our map features nearly 2,700 stations, with all lines, interchanges, platform zeros, restricted services, etc and measures 100cm x 63cm. All operators are shown in their house colour with logo and website.
Just visit railmap.org.uk for our special offers and ordering details. A great present for Christmas, and bang up to date.
