The outcome of the election looks increasingly certain, but the aftermath is unclear. But what actions should we be looking for?
Louise Haigh looks set to become the next transport secretary
Just a week or so to go before the General Election – what a long drawn-out campaign it has seemed – and barring a miracle of epic proportions, we will soon have the first Labour government since 2010.
I cannot, even now, quite believe how incompetent the Conservative campaign has been. Every day has brought a new disaster, like opening a window on an advent calendar of ineptitude. If this had been written as a fictional drama script, it would have been rejected as absurdly far fetched. I have begun to wonder if Rishi Sunak is some sort of fifth columnist, secretly working for the opposition. But he ploughs on. Most of his colleagues have given up and booked a holiday.
I cannot shed any tears over the demise of the Conservatives. Mark Harper and Huw Merriman at the Department for Transport may have been the best of a bad bunch, but they have even had to sign up for the garbage that is the so-called ‘war on the motorist’.
So let us waste no more time on the Tories. They will have some painful reckoning to face after July 4 when they have to work out what they now believe in and where, if the polls are to be believed, they go from what looks like being their worst result in 200 years.
Let us instead look forward to what the new government can do to shape a sensible transport package of measures. Of course, we have now had some broad brushstrokes, with the clearest of these painting a picture of more public oversight and control, both in relation to buses and trains. But much remains unclear.
Below, I set out my ‘Agenda for Action’, 20 steps which I suggest can be used to judge their performance in transport over the next parliament.
General
1. Labour can begin with a clear statement recognising the value of public transport, and cycling and walking, in economic, environmental and social terms, and pledge that their transport actions will be consistent with the evaluation. That means developing and implementing a strategy to achieve modal shift away from planes and road vehicles to public transport. Much of the planned road-building programme should be cancelled with the money redirected to public transport.
2. There needs to be a more coherent policy approach between the DfT, the Treasury, and No 10. For example, there is little point in the DfT promoting bus use if No 10 insists on limiting bus lanes or promoting train use if the Treasury slashes the cost of travelling by air and continues to freeze fuel duty for car drivers. At the same time, rail fares go up every year. The fuel duty escalator should be reinstated, the recent cuts to Air Passenger Duty reversed and a new special tenfold rate of APD introduced for private jets.
3. Issue guidance and encourage the use of land value capture for big housing developments to ensure public transport provision is integrated with such development. Require bus operators to have mandatory consultee status when big housing or industrial schemes are proposed to avoid car dependency.
The new government needs to recognise that the local authority sector has been starved of cash since 2015 and simply cannot deliver the transport investment and changes the new government may want without a substantial widening of its income base
4. The new government needs to recognise that the local authority sector has been starved of cash since 2015 and simply cannot deliver the transport investment and changes the new government may want without a substantial widening of its income base. In an ideal world, local income tax would replace council tax. Still, in the absence of that, two or three new council tax bands should be created at the top end of the market, raising extra cash while not affecting the “working families” politicians always
talk about.
5. The roll-out, especially in urban areas, of one-ticket solutions that enable people to change seamlessly between rail, light rail, bus and cycle with just one purchase.
Bus
6. The new government should commit to retaining England’s £2 bus fare cap for at least two years. The good value, and perhaps even more the simplicity of the fare system is undoubtedly driving business.
7. Incentives should be provided to allow bus journey times to be speeded up. So more 24-hour bus lanes, intelligent phasing of traffic lights, and (for London mayor Sadiq Khan) an end to TfL’s counter-productive policy of holding buses full of passengers for long periods at bus stops to “regulate the service”, while cars speed by.
8. New guidance on 20mph limits for local authorities to suggest bus routes should operate at 30mph as a default setting, and guidance on the integration or competition between bus routes and cycle lanes which has led to some buses being removed from prime locations.
9. A reconfiguration of responsibilities within government so that all money for buses is delivered by the DfT rather than DLUHC (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) or anyone else, and that such money for councils is ring-fenced so that it can only be spent on buses.
10. An introduction of a national standard for bus information with bus stops graded into four categories: 1, termini and major interchanges; 2, main centres and minor interchanges; 3, centres of communities; 4, general bus stops
Light Rail
11. Light rail is popular, green and efficient. A fund should be set up to allow new schemes to be introduced where there is a market, in cities such as Leeds. At the same time, the regulations that apply to their construction should be eased, and cheaper alternatives should be introduced, for example, shallower schemes that do not require utilities to be interfered with.
Rail
12. Introduce legislation in the first session of the new parliament to establish Great British Railways or its equivalent, and sharpen its focus. £64m has so far been spent on the GBR Transition Team with frankly little so show for it. Ensure the ORR is tooled up to undertake an enhanced scrutiny role of the new body. Clarify precisely the role of the passenger-in-chief that Louise Haigh says she will be. There must be an end to DfT officials micro-managing the railway.
13. Reinstate the HS2 route north of Birmingham at least as far as Crewe, even if this is on a tweaked alignment where trains would run at a slower speed. There is a desperate need for more capacity along this corridor, both for passenger and freight traffic, and the existing West Coast Main Line is incapable of meeting the pent up demand.
14. Deliver a comprehensive package of fares and ticketing reform within two years. The best split ticket option for each journey should be the new standard price for that journey. Single leg pricing should be rolled out, and fares frozen for at least three years, in recognition of the fact that they have, for decades now, risen way above inflation.
15. Publish a clear rolling stock strategy in the first year to ensure a smooth pipeline of new and refurbished trains and to give more certainty to train manufacturers and the ROSCOs.
We were promised by Network Rail action to reduce costs, but new stations are still coming in at above £20m in some cases, a ridiculous sum
16. Take action to ensure the cost of rail interventions decreases and the speed at which they are delivered increases. We were promised by Network Rail action to reduce costs, but new stations are still coming in at above £20m in some cases, a ridiculous sum. Meanwhile, despite their Project Speed, enhancements are delivered far too slowly. The long-promised reopening of the Ashington-Blyth line has drifted past the general election, yet north of the border, the Scottish Government has reopened the line to Levenmouth in a much shorter time. Labour has said it will deliver projects 25% faster and 20% cheaper – a good challenge. Let us hold them to it.
17. Reform the methods used to calculate the effect of rail interventions, particularly in respect of new or reopened lines and stations. Almost every reopening over the last 20 years has significantly underestimated passenger numbers, the latest example being the hugely successful Okehampton scheme. This systemic underestimation doubtless means other schemes that would have washed their face have been unnecessarily rejected.
..and smaller matters that irk me
18. Abandon plans for tighter regulation of heritage trains. The move to require central locking of doors is completely unnecessary and can only lead to the end of heritage specials and the end of steam on Network Rail tracks. Can we apply some common sense and perspective please.
19. It is very antisocial for passengers to put baggage on seats when trains are busy and when others are standing. It would not be tolerated on planes and should not on trains. Give conductors and revenue staff the power to require the removal of such baggage and the ability to charge the owner of the baggage for another ticket in respect of the occupied seat.
Can the new transport secretary PLEASE take action to eliminate the pointless and patronising drivel that comprises all too many announcements that are churned out mindlessly on trains and in stations
20. Can the new transport secretary PLEASE take action to eliminate the pointless and patronising drivel that comprises all too many announcements that are churned out mindlessly on trains and in stations, such as those telling us to “hold the handrail and face the direction of travel” on the escalators at London Bridge, or on Thameslink trains that “for our safety and comfort”, safety cards are provided at the end of the carriage which we are invited to inspect – have you ever seen anyone do this? And most of all, can we junk the incessant and hugely irritating ‘See it. Say it. Sorted’. I will buy whoever can get rid of this a fine meal at an expensive London restaurant to thank you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Norman Baker served as transport minister from May 2010 until October 2013. He was Lib Dem MP for Lewes between 1997 and 2015.
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
Agenda for action – 20 steps for success
by Passenger Transport on Jun 28, 2024 • 10:24 am No CommentsThe outcome of the election looks increasingly certain, but the aftermath is unclear. But what actions should we be looking for?
Just a week or so to go before the General Election – what a long drawn-out campaign it has seemed – and barring a miracle of epic proportions, we will soon have the first Labour government since 2010.
I cannot, even now, quite believe how incompetent the Conservative campaign has been. Every day has brought a new disaster, like opening a window on an advent calendar of ineptitude. If this had been written as a fictional drama script, it would have been rejected as absurdly far fetched. I have begun to wonder if Rishi Sunak is some sort of fifth columnist, secretly working for the opposition. But he ploughs on. Most of his colleagues have given up and booked a holiday.
I cannot shed any tears over the demise of the Conservatives. Mark Harper and Huw Merriman at the Department for Transport may have been the best of a bad bunch, but they have even had to sign up for the garbage that is the so-called ‘war on the motorist’.
So let us waste no more time on the Tories. They will have some painful reckoning to face after July 4 when they have to work out what they now believe in and where, if the polls are to be believed, they go from what looks like being their worst result in 200 years.
Let us instead look forward to what the new government can do to shape a sensible transport package of measures. Of course, we have now had some broad brushstrokes, with the clearest of these painting a picture of more public oversight and control, both in relation to buses and trains. But much remains unclear.
Below, I set out my ‘Agenda for Action’, 20 steps which I suggest can be used to judge their performance in transport over the next parliament.
General
1. Labour can begin with a clear statement recognising the value of public transport, and cycling and walking, in economic, environmental and social terms, and pledge that their transport actions will be consistent with the evaluation. That means developing and implementing a strategy to achieve modal shift away from planes and road vehicles to public transport. Much of the planned road-building programme should be cancelled with the money redirected to public transport.
2. There needs to be a more coherent policy approach between the DfT, the Treasury, and No 10. For example, there is little point in the DfT promoting bus use if No 10 insists on limiting bus lanes or promoting train use if the Treasury slashes the cost of travelling by air and continues to freeze fuel duty for car drivers. At the same time, rail fares go up every year. The fuel duty escalator should be reinstated, the recent cuts to Air Passenger Duty reversed and a new special tenfold rate of APD introduced for private jets.
3. Issue guidance and encourage the use of land value capture for big housing developments to ensure public transport provision is integrated with such development. Require bus operators to have mandatory consultee status when big housing or industrial schemes are proposed to avoid car dependency.
4. The new government needs to recognise that the local authority sector has been starved of cash since 2015 and simply cannot deliver the transport investment and changes the new government may want without a substantial widening of its income base. In an ideal world, local income tax would replace council tax. Still, in the absence of that, two or three new council tax bands should be created at the top end of the market, raising extra cash while not affecting the “working families” politicians always
talk about.
5. The roll-out, especially in urban areas, of one-ticket solutions that enable people to change seamlessly between rail, light rail, bus and cycle with just one purchase.
Bus
6. The new government should commit to retaining England’s £2 bus fare cap for at least two years. The good value, and perhaps even more the simplicity of the fare system is undoubtedly driving business.
7. Incentives should be provided to allow bus journey times to be speeded up. So more 24-hour bus lanes, intelligent phasing of traffic lights, and (for London mayor Sadiq Khan) an end to TfL’s counter-productive policy of holding buses full of passengers for long periods at bus stops to “regulate the service”, while cars speed by.
8. New guidance on 20mph limits for local authorities to suggest bus routes should operate at 30mph as a default setting, and guidance on the integration or competition between bus routes and cycle lanes which has led to some buses being removed from prime locations.
9. A reconfiguration of responsibilities within government so that all money for buses is delivered by the DfT rather than DLUHC (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) or anyone else, and that such money for councils is ring-fenced so that it can only be spent on buses.
10. An introduction of a national standard for bus information with bus stops graded into four categories: 1, termini and major interchanges; 2, main centres and minor interchanges; 3, centres of communities; 4, general bus stops
Light Rail
11. Light rail is popular, green and efficient. A fund should be set up to allow new schemes to be introduced where there is a market, in cities such as Leeds. At the same time, the regulations that apply to their construction should be eased, and cheaper alternatives should be introduced, for example, shallower schemes that do not require utilities to be interfered with.
Rail
12. Introduce legislation in the first session of the new parliament to establish Great British Railways or its equivalent, and sharpen its focus. £64m has so far been spent on the GBR Transition Team with frankly little so show for it. Ensure the ORR is tooled up to undertake an enhanced scrutiny role of the new body. Clarify precisely the role of the passenger-in-chief that Louise Haigh says she will be. There must be an end to DfT officials micro-managing the railway.
13. Reinstate the HS2 route north of Birmingham at least as far as Crewe, even if this is on a tweaked alignment where trains would run at a slower speed. There is a desperate need for more capacity along this corridor, both for passenger and freight traffic, and the existing West Coast Main Line is incapable of meeting the pent up demand.
14. Deliver a comprehensive package of fares and ticketing reform within two years. The best split ticket option for each journey should be the new standard price for that journey. Single leg pricing should be rolled out, and fares frozen for at least three years, in recognition of the fact that they have, for decades now, risen way above inflation.
15. Publish a clear rolling stock strategy in the first year to ensure a smooth pipeline of new and refurbished trains and to give more certainty to train manufacturers and the ROSCOs.
16. Take action to ensure the cost of rail interventions decreases and the speed at which they are delivered increases. We were promised by Network Rail action to reduce costs, but new stations are still coming in at above £20m in some cases, a ridiculous sum. Meanwhile, despite their Project Speed, enhancements are delivered far too slowly. The long-promised reopening of the Ashington-Blyth line has drifted past the general election, yet north of the border, the Scottish Government has reopened the line to Levenmouth in a much shorter time. Labour has said it will deliver projects 25% faster and 20% cheaper – a good challenge. Let us hold them to it.
17. Reform the methods used to calculate the effect of rail interventions, particularly in respect of new or reopened lines and stations. Almost every reopening over the last 20 years has significantly underestimated passenger numbers, the latest example being the hugely successful Okehampton scheme. This systemic underestimation doubtless means other schemes that would have washed their face have been unnecessarily rejected.
..and smaller matters that irk me
18. Abandon plans for tighter regulation of heritage trains. The move to require central locking of doors is completely unnecessary and can only lead to the end of heritage specials and the end of steam on Network Rail tracks. Can we apply some common sense and perspective please.
19. It is very antisocial for passengers to put baggage on seats when trains are busy and when others are standing. It would not be tolerated on planes and should not on trains. Give conductors and revenue staff the power to require the removal of such baggage and the ability to charge the owner of the baggage for another ticket in respect of the occupied seat.
20. Can the new transport secretary PLEASE take action to eliminate the pointless and patronising drivel that comprises all too many announcements that are churned out mindlessly on trains and in stations, such as those telling us to “hold the handrail and face the direction of travel” on the escalators at London Bridge, or on Thameslink trains that “for our safety and comfort”, safety cards are provided at the end of the carriage which we are invited to inspect – have you ever seen anyone do this? And most of all, can we junk the incessant and hugely irritating ‘See it. Say it. Sorted’. I will buy whoever can get rid of this a fine meal at an expensive London restaurant to thank you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Norman Baker served as transport minister from May 2010 until October 2013. He was Lib Dem MP for Lewes between 1997 and 2015.
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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