Community Rail Network Explained

Community rail in Britain is the support of railway lines and stations by local organisations, usually through community rail partnerships (CRPs) comprising railway operators, local councils, and other community organisations, and rail user groups (RUGs). Community railways are managed to fit local circumstances recognising the need to increase revenue, reduce costs, increase community involvement and support social and economic development. The Community Rail Network (CRN), formerly known as the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP), supports its fifty or so member CRPs and also offers assistance to voluntary station friends groups that support their local stations through the station adoption scheme. Since 2005 the Department for Transport has formally designated a number of railway lines as community rail schemes in order to recognise the need for different, more appropriate standards than are applied to main line railway routes, and therefore make them more cost effective.

International members

• DHR India Support Group
• Nenagh Rail Partnership
• Washington Area Rail Passengers Association

Reciprocal membership

The Association of Community Rail Partnerships has reciprocal membership with:

• Campaign for Better Transport
• Community Transport Association
• Development Trusts Association
• Heritage Railway Association
• Sustrans
• Transform Scotland

Designated Lines

The Department for Transport announced a pilot project in 2005 under their Community Rail Development Strategy, with the intention of having seven differing lines (Abbey Line, Esk Valley Line, Looe Valley Line, Penistone Line, Poacher Line, St Ives Bay Line, and Tamar Valley Line) test out different types of community rail schemes. The aims of these schemes are to:

• establish the contribution of Community Rail Development in achieving locally set objectives such as reducing road congestion and increasing accessibility
• establish the costs for the line and services
• establish the effectiveness of different methods for reducing the net financial loss of Community Rail lines by increasing revenue and reducing costs where practicable

Designation does not physically separate a line from the rest of the network or remove it from either Network Rail or franchise operation. It is not generally intended to be used as a mechanism to reopen lines or create "microfranchises", although these options may be investigated on some routes.

In addition each line has a remit agreed in a route prospectus which gives more detailed aims and objectives for each scheme, such as infrastructure improvements, new ticketing arrangements, or cooperation with other local transport operators.

The DfT has identified about fifty routes in England and Wales that would benefit from designation, covering 10% of Network Rail and some 390 stations. Some routes will only be designated as community rail services (rather than community rail lines) as the infrastructure may be used by other operators in a way that precludes designation. Not all of the CRPs mentioned above have been designated. Those that have so far are:

Date of designation	Line	Between	Partnership	Line or service
2005-07July 2005		Saint AlbansSt Albans Abbey to Watford Junction	Abbey Line Community Rail Partnership	Community line
2005-07July 2005	Esk Valley Line	Whitby to Middlesbrough	Esk Valley Railway Development Co	Community line
2005-07July 2005	Saint IvesSt Ives Bay Line	Saint IvesSt Ives to St Erth	Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership	Community line
2005-09September 2005		Looe to Liskeard	Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership	Community line
2005-09September 2005	Penistone Line	Huddersfield to Barnsley	Penistone Line Partnership	Community line
2005-09September 2005	Tamar Valley Line	Gunnislake to Plymouth	Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership	Community line
2006-03March 2006	Island Line	Shanklin to Ryde Pier Head		Community line
2006-07July 2006		Matlock to Derby	Derwent Valley Line Community Rail Partnership	Community line
2006-07July 2006	Poacher Line	Skegness to Grantham	Grantham – Skegness Community Rail Partnership	Community service
2006-09September 2006		Newquay to Par	Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership	Community service
2006-09 September 2006	Maritime Line	Falmouth Docks to Truro	Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership	Community line
2006-09September 2006		Barnstaple to Exeter Central	Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership	Community line
2006-11November 2006	East Lancashire Line	Colne to Preston	East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership	Community line
2006-11November 2006	Gainsborough Line	Marks Tey to Sudbury	Essex & South Suffolk Rail Partnership	Community line
2006-11November 2006	Marston Vale Line	Bedford to Bletchley	Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership	Community service
2007-02February 2007	Barton Line	Barton-on-Humber to Cleethorpes	Community Rail Humber	Community line
2007-02February 2007	Wherry Line	Great Yarmouth to Norwich	Community Rail Norfolk	Community service
2007-02February 2007	Wherry Line	Lowestoft to Norwich	Community Rail Norfolk	Community service
2007-03March 2007	Clitheroe Line	Clitheroe to Manchester Victoria	Clitheroe Line CRP	Community service
2007-09September 2007	Bittern Line	Sheringham to Norwich	Community Rail Norfolk	Community line
2007-09September 2007	Medway Valley Line	Strood to Paddock Wood	Kent & Medway Rural Transport Partnership	Community service
2008-04April 2008	Lakes Line	Windermere to Oxenholme	Lakes Line Community Rail Partnership	Community line
2008-04April 2008	Severn Beach Line	Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads	Severnside CRP	Community service
2008-04April 2008	South Fylde Line	Blackpool South to Preston	South Fylde Community Rail Partnership	Community line
2008-07July 2008	Lymington Branch Line	Lymington Pier to Brockenhurst	Lymington-Brockenhurst Community Rail Partnership	Community line
2008-11November 2008		Crewe to Derby	North Staffordshire CRP	Community service
2009-09 September 2009	Cumbrian Coast Line	Barrow-in-Furness to Carlisle		Community service
2011-01January 2011	Bishop Line	Bishop Auckland to Darlington	Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership	Community service
2011-09September 2011	Preston to Ormskirk Line	Ormskirk to Preston	West of Lancashire Rail Partnership	Community line
2011-10October 2011	Heart of Wessex Line	Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads	Heart of Wessex Rail Partnership	Community service
2012-01January 2012	Mid-Cheshire Line	Chester to Manchester Piccadilly via Northwich	Mid Cheshire Rail Partnership	Community service
2012-06June 2012	Furness Line	Barrow-in-Furness to Carnforth		Community service
2012-09September 2012	Avocet Line	Exmouth to Exeter St Davids	Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership	Community line
2012-10October 2012	Bentham Line	Heysham Port/Morecambe to Leeds	Leeds – Morecambe Community Rail Partnership	Community service
2012-10October 2012	Hereward Line	Ely to Peterborough	Hereward CRP	Community line
2016-09September 2016	TransWilts Line	Swindon to Westbury via Melksham	TransWilts Community Rail Partnership	Community service

See also

• Third-sector railway – a type of railway company or line in Japan that operates in a somewhat similar fashion to UK-style community rail especially in rural areas, typically involving prefectural and/or municipal governments as well as private companies forming small operating companies to take over and operate otherwise low-patronage and unprofitable rail lines spun off from larger rail companies. See also: List of third-sector railway lines in Japan

External links

• Community Rail Network
• Department for Transport, Community Rail
• Network Rail community railways page