Chancellor Rachel Reeves couldn’t have chosen a better place for the £15.6bn Spending Review sneak preview that will fuel a transport revolution in mayoral regions.
Standing in front of employees at Mellor, a bus manufacturer based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, Reeves yesterday unveiled a tantalising package of measures to quite literally get parts of Britain moving.
She was introduced by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, architect and champion of the city-region’s Bee Network, the UK’s first locally controlled public transport system outside London in almost 40 years.
Its initial success in improving services for 2.8m Greater Mancunians has been noted by other local transport authorities and also by government.
Credit where it’s due, Greater Manchester will now get a further £2.5bn to invest in 1,000 additional electric buses; an extension of the Metrolink tram network to Stockport; and new tram-trains that can operate on both tram and rail lines. There will be new stops on the Metrolink in Oldham and Bury. There will be more certainty for manufacturers like Mellor.
Having until recently worked in strategic communications at Transport for Greater Manchester, including supporting the launch of the Bee Network, it was satisfying to hear the Chancellor repeating a familiar mantra.
Local public transport is about much more than the journey. It can unlock opportunity, economic growth, and social mobility, and even help to close the productivity gap with comparable global cities.
By way of example, additional investment in public transport in Greater Manchester will unlock investment in new homes and businesses in locations that were previously not accessible to people, or viable for developers. It will enable people to travel across Greater Manchester for education, skills, and employment, levelling up the city-region.
Cynics will no doubt suggest that Reeves’ Spending Review curtain raiser was about lifting the more general economic gloom, or placating red wall voters in the face of growing support for Reform UK.
It’s also worth noting that the North, and other areas outside of London, still need more investment to close the gap with the capital, particularly since the cancellation of HS2 beyond Birmingham.
This is money allocated to support transport infrastructure in the major regions, where local control of public transport through bus franchising is already on the agenda. Recipients are:
- West Midlands: £2.4bn for Metro extension, connecting Birmingham city centre to a new sports quarter.
- West Yorkshire: £2.1bn to start building West Yorkshire Mass Transit.
- South Yorkshire: £1.5bn, including £530m to renew the tram network and £350m to reform South Yorkshire’s buses, with franchised buses operating across the whole of South Yorkshire by 2029.
- Liverpool City Region: £1.6bn, including £100m for three new bus rapid transit routes, and new buses for the franchised bus network.
- North East: £1.8bn for Metro extension linking Newcastle and Sunderland via Washington, serving one of the largest advanced manufacturing zones in the UK.
- West of England: £0.8bn, including £150m to improve rail infrastructure and £200m for mass transit development.
- Tees Valley: £1bn, including £60m for the Platform 3 extension at Middlesbrough station.
- East Midlands: £2bn, including design a new mass transit system to connect Derby and Nottingham.
It’s worth noting that only mayoral authorities have until recently had the power to introduce bus franchising without requiring approval from the Secretary of State. Last September, the government also laid a new statutory instrument to open up franchising to all local transport authorities. How they will finance their plans remains to be seen.
Also worth noting is the vital role for communications, consultation and engagement, all things that SEC Newgate can deliver.
Bringing buses under local control requires several layers of mandatory statutory consultation. The same will no doubt be required as local train services fall under local control. Operators bidding for franchises will want to ensure their reputations are fit for purpose.
Lenders and financiers will be needed to support these lofty ambitions. Complex and potentially disruptive changes will need to be communicated with stakeholders who may be impatient about the impact of short-term pain in exchange for long-term gains.
A future of fully-integrated public transport means that this will apply to buses, local roads, rail and active travel – including walking and cycling.
Make no mistake, a local transport revolution is now well underway. But we can help you to get on board.