Transport – The Liberal Party

Railways Franchises will be scrapped in favour of ‘Open Access Rail’ as the franchise agreement comes to an end:
- Privately owned self-financing operators that are not subject to franchising, instead purchasing individual slots on the mainline. There would be a minimum of four operators per railway route.
- Major Railways routes would operate 24/7.
Greener railways by increasing the number of electric light rail/trains.
Invest heavily in light rail as well as metro transit systems across all major cities in England: Manchester, Leeds, Bristol etc:
- All light rail and metro systems in major cities would operate 24/7.
HS1, HS2, HS3 etc. should be extended to cover Wales (Cardiff), North West of England (Liverpool and Manchester), Yorkshire (Leeds – Phase 2b), North East of England (Newcastle), Scotland (Glasgow and Edinburgh) and Northern Ireland (Belfast).
Investment in infrastructure to encourage rail freight rather than movement of freight by road.
Increased investment in rail infrastructure and rolling stock, to reduce levels of overcrowding:
- Set up a commission that would look at reopening some of the Beeching’ cuts to British railway lines in the 1960’s.

Introduce road pricing throughout the Strategic Road Network, and use all additional revenue to cut fuel duty.
We believe that e-scooters should be covered by legislation like that which cover pedal cycles with safety advice on their use on pavements and for it to be mandatory to wear a safety helmet whilst riding them.
Remove ‘Powered Transporter’ restrictions to legalise the development of dockless e-scooter schemes.
Lower the driving age from 17 to 16.

Local governments should have the power to integrate all forms of public transport including bus, light rail, metro and train services:
- Just like the Oyster Card used in London, a similar payment method will be encouraged within an integrated transport system within each respective Local Government (Regional Assemblies) across England.
Spend £2.5bn on new cycle routes across all county councils in England.
Allow private investors to finance, build and operate new train and light rail lines at the invitation of the local government.

Giving local government more powers to support and fund new bus services within there respective region, including powers over franchising, as well removing the ban on local government creating their own publicly run bus companies:
- Reform of the Bus Service Operators Grant so that it is devolved to Local Government.

A Minister for Rail, Light Rail and Metro (directly answerable to the Secretary of State for Transport) will be introduced, responsible and accountable for making the system work for both passengers and the public at large.