Getting Public Transport Back On Track, Crawley Observer Column, Wednesday 11th September 2024

To state the obvious, transport plays a fundamental role in all of our lives. Truth be told, there are fairly few services that every single one of us relies upon almost every day regardless of wealth or demography, but we all need the ability to get ourselves from A to B, from using the public highway or taking to the air.

Unfortunately, all-too-often this seems to be a miserable experience for people, particularly when it comes to experiences of public transport. That’s despite the fact that the cost of housing means people are increasingly forced to live further away from where they work, that roads simply do not have the capacity for everyone to drive everywhere by car all of the time, and that even with electric vehicles hitting Net Zero isn’t going to happen without a big uptake in public transport. So, with the need for public transport growing, it is clear that as a country we have to do better.

That’s why the recent actions of the Labour Government to build a public transport system fit for the future are so important. By reaching a deal to end the strikes we have got the train network running again, but we need a rail service fit for the long-term. So, I was proud to have the chance to vote to establish Great British Rail, bringing the railway network back into public ownership as the existing franchises expire at no extra cost to the taxpayer and ensuring that the network will be run for the benefit of customers once more.

Similarly, the decision taken to return bus franchising powers to local authorities restores the direct link between local services and local accountability, enabling councils to act to reverse route cuts and deliver the network local people want for their community.

Public transport plays a central and growing role in the life of our country. The decisions taken by the Labour Government over recent months are starting to roll back four decades of decline and failure, putting customers back at the heart of services and finally getting transport back on track.