The Rail Passengers' Council begat Passenger Focus, who begat Transport Focus, who held a Reception at the Scottish Parliament in September, followed the next day by a Board Meeting held in public, then an afternoon Conference. This was entitled Can Public Transport ever offer a better choice? Faced with such a feast some of your Committee ventured south to join in.

Rather than give a detailed account of all that took place it's probably more useful, and certainly more telling, to set down verbatim what some of the speakers said. Before I do so it may be a good time to reprint what other speakers have said on other occasions.

We must find and exploit real opportunities to reduce journey times, Iain Coucher, CEO of Network Rail at FoFNL AGM, 30 June 2008

Railways must at least compete with roads, Alex Salmond MSP, First Minister, at a public meeting following a Cabinet Meeting in Inverness, 4 August 2008

[The FNL and WHL] are inextricably linked to how those communities work, Phil Verster, CEO of ScotRail/Network Rail Alliance, TF Board Meeting, 16 September 2015

The customer comes first - [we must] improve what we do; improve year by year, Phil Verster ibid.

[We must] focus on improved journey times, Derek Mackay MSP, Minister for Transport and Islands, Conference, 16 September 2015

Absolutely reliable public services, Phil Verster, Conference in answer to a question about what was important for ScotRail in rural Scotland

FoFNL trusts that this year's quotes will not need to be repeated, as those made in 2008 necessarily have been.