Tony Keel’s Post

Metro mayors to control rail services under unprecedented England devolution plans White paper paves way for London-style contactless-payment travel networks and unitary authorities to replace two-tier county and district councils

Metro mayors to control rail services under unprecedented England devolution plans White paper paves way for London-style contactless-payment travel networks and unitary authorities to replace two-tier county and district councils

Two of my favourite topics in one news story - railways and local government empowerment. Looking forward to tomorrow's English devolution white paper, and to continuing the quest to deliver the dual benefits of rail reform and devolution. https://lnkd.in/eDJe2uQD

The new government plans to renationalise the railways within five years, leveraging existing public ownership and insights from the Williams Review on industry issues. They aim to save £700 million by allowing contracts to expire naturally. Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh prioritises customer-friendly reforms, such as simplified ticketing and increased accountability. Public support is strong, with a 76% approval rating. While the reforms promise lower ticket prices and improved benefits, challenges remain due to union demands and industry uncertainty. Future changes may see all services unified under Great British Railways, reminiscent of the old British rail days.   What are your thoughts on the renationalisation plans for rail? Chris Jones #rail #renationalisation #railreform Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eSkku23w

What better way to help ease the cost of living than by encouraging more people to use public transport with ultra-low-cost fares. Hats off to the Qld Government for choosing to enable more public transport trips, rather than just giving cash handout that do nothing toward building a sustainable transport future. Now the ‘hidden in plain sight’ cost of private vehicle use needs to be exposed, to show the true value of this measure.

Levelling Up has been scrapped.   What we do know is that doesn’t mean the end of Government's commitments to improve the rail industry - it is only the slogan that is being erased. Public transport is vital for connecting communities and enabling accessibility to a diverse range of work places.   The Kings Speech laid out the road map for the Government's ambitions to bring public transport into public control. With public transport still struggling to return to pre-pandemic usage levels, the key aspirations put a focus on passengers, increasing services and reducing costs, for the consumer and public purse. Plans also indicate a desire for growing networks, particularly the development of better rail interconnectivity in the North.    Personally, I am a big fan of the £2 cap on bus fares which has made public transport an attractive option and was supported by the previous Governments investment into affordable travel.   We know from the King's Speech that the way forward will be paved by the following Bill's:   🚇 Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill - The management of passenger services are currently contracted to Train Operating Companies under National Rail Contracts, this Bill will look to transfer responsibility of these services to a public-sector operator as the existing contracts expire. This is seen as the first step to delivering a broader programme of reform.   🚍 Better Buses Bill - Citing the success of the Greater Manchester's Bee Network as case study, the Government will use this Bill to deliver their commitment to reform the bus system by delivering new powers for local leaders to franchise local bus services and lift the restriction on the creation of new publicly owned bus operators.   🚆 Railways Bill - This Bill will establish the much anticipated Great British Railways for the management of the rail network and delivery of passenger services. The Bill will also be used to make further legislative changes to comprehensively reform the rail sector – "bringing track and train back together and planning services on a whole-system basis, to better deliver for passengers and freight customers, and to unlock growth".   🚄 High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill - The Government will repurpose this Bill to provide powers to construct and operate rail projects which improve east to west connectivity across the north of England - something I am particularly excited to see come into fruition.   This will definitely be a sector to keep an eye on.   Pictured: Sign in Blackburn Train Station earlier this year - if you have been to Blackburn Train Station/live here you will understand the eye roll that accompanied this picture. 

Transport for Greater Manchester is taking steps to integrate eight commuter rail lines into the Bee Network by 2028. Read more: https://ow.ly/x6Xi50UoV7K #Manchester #BeeNetwork #Rail #UK

re: https://lnkd.in/e-2ugb8J This article makes a good case for expanding the rail network in the Sheffield area. Obviously we want the Sheffield Victoria open and Don Valley Rail and Stocksbridge. Sheffield needs an orbital railway to enable more freight coming through the area not to take up paths which passenger services need. Personally, LRT should be on road space as per Manchester i.e. it is extra! Electrification of the Midland Main Line to Sheffield and Leeds with a seamless service cutting out some of the changes to get south and north. So for example Luton Airport, Leicester, Sheffield and Leeds. They should have choice to ECML and MML could make more of a contribution.  I hope you will respond to the article and encourage these things and keeping medium long term options open like route protection, like studying to explore modern cases in the modern context, not floundering on past glories and constantly putting off until routes are lost and other priorities take over. We need an optimal rail reach and range if model shift is to be realised in a generation. Campaigns which endure are well organised, peopled and delegate to ensure more.

Big ticket items for #transport announced in the first #KingsSpeech delivered under a #Labour #government in 15 years include the English Devolution Bill, the Better Buses Bill, the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill and the Rail Reform Bill. Find out what these bills, as well as those concerned with #energy, #planning and #infrastructure, mean for the #UK #transportsector in City Transport & Traffic Innovation Magazine:

Transport for Greater Manchester is taking steps to integrate eight commuter rail lines into the Bee Network by 2028. Read more: https://ow.ly/x6Xi50UoV7K #Manchester #BeeNetwork #Rail #UK