How Merseyrail dared to be different
“Liverpool, surreal. Liverpool, sardonic. Liverpool battered dignity. Liverpool, flotsam of maritime memory. Liverpool never quite what it was because everything it does changes what it does … Liverpool, welcoming the world. Liverpool cutting edge, keeping pace, dropping anchor.” Extract from The North by Paul Morley Liverpool is different. And so is its very own rail network. None […]
How can we support towns like Batley?
There are so many policy reports on transport and cities you could stack them up as high as the Beetham Tower. However, the pile of reports on transport and towns would struggle to get higher than the front step. Of course, getting big city transport networks right deserves attention. Wider city region economies, and indeed […]
Six things I learned on a works outing to Hitachi’s Train Building Factory in County Durham
1.We live in a world of mysterious blank big sheds inside which much of the economy happens. So good on Hitachi on being so open to visitors in letting people like us have a look at what goes on in their factory and to see some new trains being born. People love to see what […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.