Promote sustainable tourism

Promote sustainable tourism

Rail should be at the heart of Yorkshire’s tourism strategy. We want more people to visit our county but we’d rather not have the extra traffic that comes with it. Rail should be the mode of choice for getting to the Dales, North Yorkshire Moors and Pennines, with a network of connecting bus services.

Modern trains should be adapted as ‘tourist trains’ with more luggage and bike space and better views from the windows (as Scotland is currently doing). Currently, a lack rail services causes congestion to regions en route, including West Yorkshire.

We want to promote rail travel as a visitor experience in itself – promoting lines like Settle-Carlisle and Esk Valley, and working with the heritage railway sector, including the North York Moors Railway, Worth Valley Railway and National Railway Museum in York to market Yorkshire’s railway heritage.

Stations in our national parks should be a focus of the local tourism industry with shops and cafes, bike hire and bus links to less accessible locations.

british-heritage-railways