Category Archives: Transport policy

Almost one in 10 local bus services axed over last year in Great Britain

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Exclusive: cuts come despite government’s levelling up promise to improve transport connectivity

Almost one in 10 local bus services were axed in Great Britain in the last year despite government promises to improve local transport connectivity being a key pillar of its levelling up agenda.

The reductions – equivalent to more than 1,000 registered routes – follow the publication of a national bus strategy for England in 2021, aimed at improving routes and service frequencies. The figures suggest the “bus back better” strategy, conceived under the then prime minister Boris Johnson, has failed to halt the decline in local bus services.

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£2 cap for many bus fares in England expected to save 2m car journeys

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Campaigners welcome DfT’s temporary £60m subsidy to cut emissions and congestion, but say it should go further

Bus fares in many places across England will be capped at £2 for the winter under a government-backed campaign to encourage people back on to public transport.

Single fares on most major operators’ services will be limited from January until March under the scheme.

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Rail strikes: passengers face fresh wave of weekend disruption

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People urged only to travel if absolutely necessary on last weekend before Christmas

Rail passengers face another day of reduced services on Saturday as thousands of Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT) staff continue a 48-hour strike.

People have been urged to only attempt travel if absolutely necessary on the last full weekend before Christmas, with only a skeleton service running and all train journeys ending by early evening.

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Avanti West Coast rewarded with over £4m in taxpayer-funded bonuses

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Payout awarded for period in which Avanti was UK’s worst train operator for delays, Labour analysis found

Avanti West Coast was handed millions of pounds of taxpayer-funded bonuses for a period in which it was Britain’s worst train operator for delays, according to Labour party analysis.

The analysis, which used Department for Transport (DfT) figures published on Thursday, found the company was awarded the highest possible rating for “operational performance” and “customer satisfaction” between 1 April and 18 September last year. Those ratings contributed to a bonus payout of £4.1m.

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Mark Harper refuses to deny No 10 or Treasury pushed for driver-only trains

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MPs question transport secretary about reports government stipulation may have scuppered rail deal

The transport secretary, Mark Harper, has refused to deny reports that the government pushed rail companies to include future use of driver-only trains as a condition of a pay deal, thus potentially scuppering an agreement.

Under sustained questioning before the Commons transport committee, Harper at first said he had not seen the report, before repeatedly declining to engage with the subject beyond saying that reforms in how the railways were run were necessary to make savings.

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Town vs gown and car vs bike: row erupts over Cambridge congestion plan

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Residents rally over scheme they believe will benefit only bicycling students and dons

In 1381, a mob sacked university buildings and burned books in the town square, shouting: “Away with the learning of clerks!” More recently, battle lines have been drawn over plans to build homes on green belt land and attempts to ban wild swimming in the river Cam.

Now, tensions between town and gown are rising again in Cambridge. This time, it’s over proposals to introduce a £5 congestion charge on weekday car journeys to the city, with a protest march to Parker’s Piece common planned for 27 November.

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Fund England’s bus network now or lose vital routes, campaigners warn

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Charities and transport groups say hundreds more routes face axe without targeted help and long-term funding

Bus services will not survive without sustained Treasury funding, campaigners and industry groups have warned the chancellor after the cutting of hundreds of routes in recent months.

Transport charities and trade bodies have written to Jeremy Hunt asking for support before this week’s autumn statement urging him to guarantee short-term funding, give targeted help to local authorities, and bring in better long-term financial settlements.

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Ministers back free train travel for military to remembrance services after outcry

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Exclusive: former veterans minister Johnny Mercer and others had condemned plans to scrap free travel

The government has vowed to guarantee free rail travel for military personnel to attend remembrance services this year after facing criticism over moves to scrap the offer.

Proposed plans to stop the free train travel after the government decided the cost would be “too great” had sparked an outcry and calls for a U-turn from the former veterans minister Johnny Mercer and others.

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Housebuilders ‘lobbied against plan for electric car chargers in new homes in England’

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‘Blatant efforts’ by companies criticised by campaign group Transport & Environment

Britain’s biggest housebuilders privately lobbied for the government to ditch rules requiring electric car chargers to be installed in every new home in England, documents have revealed.

The FTSE 100 construction firms Barratt Developments, Berkeley Group and Taylor Wimpey were among the companies who argued against the policy in responses to an official consultation seen by the Guardian. The “blatant lobbying efforts” were criticised by Transport & Environment, a campaign group.

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Bus fares in England to be capped at £2 for three months, says DfT

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Plan costing £60m is intended to help passengers during cost of living crisis and will come into effect in January

Bus journeys in England will be capped at £2 for three months amid concerns about the cost of living crisis.

The Department for Transport said the £60m plan could save passengers more than £3 for a single ticket.

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TfL funding deal means tube fares must rise and bus services be cut

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Sadiq Khan accepts ‘far from ideal’ settlement but says it secures long-term future for transport network

Tube fares will rise and more bus services will be cut in the capital, the mayor, Sadiq Khan, warned, after Transport for London agreed to accept a £1.2bn funding settlement from the government.

The deal, slightly improved from a “final offer” made in July by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, was welcomed by TfL as allowing it to avert the “managed decline” of its transport network.

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No 10 denies ministers seeking political fight with rail unions

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Denial comes as language toughens on both sides and head of RMT again warns of de facto general strike

Downing Street has denied that ministers are deliberately seeking a political fight with rail unions, as both sides toughened their language further and the head of the RMT warned the impasse could continue “indefinitely”.

Just 20% of rail services ran on Thursday, in a sixth day of strike action since June involving the RMT and TSSA unions, with further disruption taking place on Saturday, which is likely to affect trains throughout the weekend.

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Rail strikes: Britons face three more days of disruption from Thursday

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Network Rail, several train firms, London Underground and London buses to be hit by latest action

Commuters and other travellers are facing further disruption over three days from Thursday on rail, tube and bus services, as tens of thousands of workers begin the latest round of strike action.

Network Rail, several train companies, London Underground and buses in the capital will be hit by industrial action due to long-running disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.

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North Korea – a model for Grant Shapps’ bicycle licence plate proposal?

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The secretive state demands each cycle display a registration number – although officially women are banned from bikes

• UK cyclists could be made to have registration plates

If the British transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is looking for a “model” for his bicycle registration plates proposal he could turn to one of the world’s most illiberal countries: North Korea.

After decades of being frowned upon as a primitive means of transport for citizens of a modern, socialist paradise, cycling gained official acceptance in the secretive state in 1992 – although it is officially banned for women.

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Registration plates and insurance for cyclists being considered by government – report

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Whitehall review is also said to suggest cycling speed limits, along with licence penalty points and fines

Bikes could be made to have registration plates and insurance as ministers weigh up bringing speed limits for cyclists into line with those for drivers.

The government is also considering the possibility of cyclists receiving licence penalty points and fines if they break speed limits or run red lights, the Daily Mail reported.

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Labour demands action over Avanti West Coast reduced train service

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Transport secretary urged to press for restoration of full timetable or strip operator of contract after 12 cancellations on Monday

Labour has written to Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, urging him to take immediate action to ensure Avanti West Coast restores more frequent services on its busy intercity rail route, or else strip the train operator of its contract.

The rail firm, which runs trains between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, cancelled another 12 services on Monday morning, on the first full day of an already drastically reduced emergency timetable.

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No 46 to Le Manoir: Raymond Blanc funds local bus service to restaurant

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Hourly bus serves local villages and brings staff – and sometimes customers – to Michelin-starred restaurant

With rural buses in long-term decline and a funding crisis putting more routes in peril, a surprising service has appeared on the English transport menu: the No 46 bus to Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons.

Raymond Blanc’s celebrated restaurant and hotel in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside may not appear classic bus territory. The Michelin-starred establishment’s seven-course dinner with matching wines starts at £350 a head, rising to just over £1,000 if you want to drink the good stuff.

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Plans for eight-day strike at Felixstowe threaten UK supply chain

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Owners prioritise multimillion-pound shareholder dividends over paying decent wages, says union

Dockers at Felixstowe are planning eight days of strike action over pay that could cause serious disruption to the UK’s largest container port.

Nearly 1,900 workers plan to stop work for more than a week at the Hong Kong-owned port, starting on Sunday 21 August and ending on Monday 29 August, according to the union Unite. The workers voted 92% in favour of strike action last week.

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Unions issue threat of UK general strike as rail crisis grows

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Aslef members voted for action in August, while the RMT chief, Mick Lynch, is calling for a general strike

Unions warned the UK could face a general strike this year as rail workers voted for fresh action set to intensify a summer of industrial unrest.

The vote for further transport strikes came as Keir Starmer sacked shadow transport minister Sam Tarry who conducted broadcast interviews alongside striking RMT workers at Euston station – a move that is likely to increase divisions between Labour and trade unions.

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