The best transport secretary we’ve had?
Barbara Castle was the first woman to be secretary of state for transport, but was she also the best secretary of state for transport we ever had? Fifty years since her landmark Transport Act received Royal Assent on October 24 (at the time, the largest piece of non-financial legislation since the war), it’s a good […]
Grayling's review can get rail devolution back on track
Last month, the government launched what it called a ‘root and branch’ review of the UK’s railways. And rightly so. On the same day as transport secretary Chris Grayling announced the review, the ORR published the results of its own interim inquiry into the May timetable meltdown, concluding that nobody took charge with a “gap […]
What I found on the conference circuit
In his latest article for Passenger Transport Magazine, Jonathan Bray says in this time of seismic political shifts, the party conferences have become more interesting and new ideas for transport are emerging.
Five things I learned for urban transport at Conservative party conference
Grayling’s plan for rail Chris Grayling was expansive in setting out his thoughts on the future for rail at a rail industry fringe… – He previously thought evolution not revolution was right approach for rail but recent events have shown that this isn’t the case. The system is broken and needs fixing. – However the rail review […]
Five things I learned at Labour Party Conference for urban transport
1.About towns For many years the dominant argument has been that all policy focus should be on cities, as they are where the economic action is. Now that hegemony is breaking down. Think tanks like Centre for Towns and Wigan MP, Lisa Nandy, have been challenging the implicit assumption (and were doing so across Labour […]
Civilising the City of London
In his latest article for Passenger Transport Magazine, our Director Jonathan Bray writes how the City of London is one to watch in terms of taming traffic and creating an attractive and enjoyable environment.
Rail review can get rail devolution back on track
At last week’s National Rail Awards, Merseyrail (which is fully devolved to the transport authority Merseytravel) won Passenger Operator of the Year and two others awards, becoming the first single train operator to win three awards at the event. It’s hard to remember now, but before powers over the Merseyrail Electrics network were delegated to […]
Stormy weather looms over transport
In his latest article for Passenger Transport Magazine, Jonathan Bray writes that big shifts are going on – crises for bus and rail, ‘big tech’ reined in and an active travel revolution is underway in Greater Manchester.
What if rail has reached its peak?
In this piece for Rail Review, Urban Transport Group’s Director Jonathan Bray responds to an article on rail passenger demand trends by Matt Lovering, Senior Managing Director at Teneo Consulting. Jonathan argues that rail’s future depends on the wider choices the UK makes on housing and land use. Read ‘What if rail has reached its peak?’ […]
A vision for the future of 'Rail Cities'
In his latest article for Passenger Transport Magazine, Jonathan Bray explains with the crisis on Northern and Thameslink shows how important rail is for cities – and opens up a space for some bigger thinking.