Transport

Spokesperson: Joe Dunne (josephdunne96@hotmail.com)


Airports 

  • Give central government approval to all subsidy-free airport expansion plans. 

  • Hold auctions to allocate new landing slot capacity when airports expand. 

Railways 

  • Rail franchises will be brought under public ownership under a cooperative model as the franchise agreement comes to an end: 
    • One third on the board elected by the county council, one third elected by the workers and one third by the public company directors. 
    • Major railway 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 (Liverpool), 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. 

Local Government and Transport 

  • 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 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. 

  • Reform of the Bus Service Operators Grant so that it is devolved to local government. 

Motoring/E-Scooters 

  • 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. 

Miscellaneous 

  • Build a rail-road bridge connecting Scotland with Northern Ireland.