Diverting public transport investment to the north can close the economic gap

While Secretary of State for Transport and Sheffield, MP Louise Haigh chose to namecheck the French city of Dijon when she first teased today’s announcement of an Integrated National Transport Strategy, her true inspiration is closer to home.

She wants to replicate the type of integrated public transport network enjoyed by Londoners for generations and only now becoming a reality in Greater Manchester.

From 5 January 2025, every bus in Greater Manchester will be under local control and part of the Bee Network – a fully-integrated local transport system bringing together journeys by bus, tram, active travel.

By 2028, eight local commuter rail lines will be part of the Bee Network. The long-term vision is that people will be able to tap in and out for a journey using multiple modes of transport and be charged only a reasonable amount for that trip based on the journey.

Improving affordable connectivity for more than 2.8m people will increase access to education, skills and employment, helping to drive economic growth.

Adding meat to the bones in a speech to regional mayors and transport leaders at Leeds Civic Hall this lunchtime, Haigh said she wants to extend that level of integrated connectivity and opportunity to every town and city in the UK, unlocking similar potential for economic growth.

There’s certainly a case to be made. Taking inspiration from Dijon before her announcement, the Transport Secretary had seen how a city roughly the size of York, or Chester, is running buses every five minutes in rush hour, the tram every three, and has a dial-a-ride service to the outlying villages. Dijon has also created a single app that brings together every mode of transport – from bus to tram, car hire to bike hire, planning journeys to paying for parking.

Haigh says the emphasis now is on a “people first approach” to getting people around the country, recognising that different people have different needs.

She signalled that the Department for Transport is reforming its appraisal system, so that projects deliver good value for money as well as the right outcomes – such as more jobs, improved access to education and healthier communities.

There will be no new local tax-raising powers, but transport authorities will be able to look at new ways to get more investment from the private sector, including parking levies. This will need to be handled sensitively and could be difficult for local politicians.

Powers will be heavily devolved to mayors and councils across England, who will be encouraged to devise their own priorities.

Regional roadshows will be hosted around the country to hear more from local leaders, transport operators and passenger bodies, as well as listening to the public.

Investment will go to those that make the strongest case and that will inevitably see money shift away from the south-east and towards areas where there is greater need, largely in the north of England.

Few will argue with the logic of diverting transport funding to those areas where it will deliver the biggest economic benefit.

A bigger challenge will be stitching this patchwork quilt together to give the entire country the integrated transport network it needs in the wake of HS2’s failure.

Does this mean that the Transport Secretary is ready to deliver the level of rail investment campaigned for by the same Northern mayors who are leading the way on integrated services locally?

Has the Transport Secretary launched a national integrated transport strategy to be implemented, piece by piece, in individual local transport authority areas?

Or a strategy for an integrated transport system that serves everyone in the UK in getting where they need to go in the country, physically and economically? Only time will tell.