Tweet Check

RAIL’s regular service aims to answer your questions, debunk the myths, and get to the unvarnished truth behind some of the most common claims and queries we spot on social media.

New trains claim

RAIL’s verdict: On November 18, Labour posted a video online claiming that trains in Britain are more expensive, overcrowded and unreliable than those in Europe. It also said European trains are newer, greener, better-connected and “don’t take money out of the system to give to private shareholders”.

The irony is that it introduced this video using privately owned trains from Italy and Switzerland!

But do Labour claims stack up? RAIL 886 published European analysis showing that for off-peak return regional fares, the UK was 12th most expensive for walk-on and 11th for advance tickets, so Labour’s claim cannot be considered definitive here.

Are trains more reliable and punctual in Europe? Not always.

Some analysis has placed the UK above France and Germany (as well as other networks) on those measures. And in terms of passenger satisfaction, the UK actually ranks higher than most EU networks.

Nor is it true to say that the UK’s train fleet is older than that of Europe. In terms of fleet age the UK average is now 19,2 years, while a June 2017 CER report found that the fleet in Belgium was 20 years old on average, and in Italy on long-distance lines in 2016, it was 25.

Beeching reversal

RAIL’s verdict: The Conservatives’ eyecatching vow to “restore many of the Beeching lines” is likely to be a popular manifesto pledge among voters, despite the stark reality that the £500 million being set aside by the party in order to do so would be woefully inadequate.

More than 5,000 miles of track and almost 2,400 stations were listed for closure in the 1960s. And reopening any significant proportion of them is certain to cost billions.

This becomes more obvious when you consider that the 35-mile Borders Railway cost approximately £17m per mile to build when it was reopened in 2015. Much of the trackbed was free from development, so you can expect the price tag to swiftly rise for routes that have been more heavily built upon since closure five decades ago.

Engineer, design consultant and RAIL contributor Gareth Dennis estimates that £500m will pay for just 25 miles of track at a rate of £20m per mile (in 2018 prices), citing recent examples of rail reopenings including the Kettering-Corby upgrade (£20m/mile), Evergreen 3 Phase 2 Bicester-Oxford (£18m/mile) and Aidrie-Bathgate (£14m/mile).

If you see anything on Twitter that you think we should fact-check, debunk or explain, please get in touch at rail@bauermedia.co.uk