As we await the formation of a new government, we can only hope that the new administration will be addressing climate change, sustainable planning and infrastructure delivery more seriously than the manifestos and election campaigning have indicated.
An analysis of manifesto policy by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth showed only the Green Party scoring maximum points for sustainable transport policy – with Labour scoring less than 50% and the Conservatives a woeful 15%.
Over the last decade Westminster has offered only fleeting periods of lukewarm support and relatively minor investment in public transport and railways. We think too much focus was placed on HS2 at the expense of wider infrastructural improvement – and even that project has now been significantly reduced.
But change must come! Even with a pandemic, two years of still unresolved industrial action and the nonsensical pricing of train tickets, train travel has retained strong demand. Figures from the government office of Rail and Road showed another strong year of growth in passenger numbers to March 2024, bringing it back to pre-pandemic levels.
UK transport remains a principal emitter of C02, the domestic transport sector being responsible for 28% of all emissions (Gov.UK figures, 2022). Much trust is now being placed on electric cars to reduce this burden, but analysis by the Rail Delivery Group earlier this year found that even an electric car journey is 2.5 times more polluting than an equivalent rail journey. (A hybrid vehicle was four times more polluting and a petrol or diesel car was nine times more polluting.)
If the next government are serious about meeting their legal commitments to tackle climate change, transport planning must be absolutely central to their plans. Investment in rail travel, prioritising the resolution of industrial action and addressing ticket pricing through appropriate regulation must be at the heart of their plans.
Bicycle- / train-based transport systems have been greatly developed across many European countries in recent years. In Holland nearly 50% of rail passengers now arrive at stations by bicycle.