Transport User Voice August 2024 – Passengers at the heart of change

01 August 2024

King’s Speech announcements

Transport Focus welcomed the proposals for a range of new transport legislation included amongst the 40 Bills announced in the recent King’s Speech. They provide significant and ambitious opportunities to improve the experience for both rail and bus passengers.

The Railway, and the Passenger Railway Service (Public Ownership) Bills aim to address the priorities of passengers – a punctual and reliable railway that delivers on the timetable’s promise at an acceptable price. The Better Buses Bill will support further improvements needed in bus services, provide opportunities to increase bus use and develop a quality network for local communities.

In more detail…

Rail

• The first of two rail bills had its second reading in Parliament on 29 July. The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill is designed to facilitate taking rail contracts/franchises back into public ownership by removing clauses in the 1993 Railways Act which set out a presumption in favour of the private sector. This is now being replaced with a requirement to run trains through a public sector company or operator.
• The second – the Railway Bill, aims to deliver against six key objectives: reliable, affordable, efficient, quality, accessible and safe travel, and will formally establish a new body – Great British Railways – to deliver change. It is positive to see that these objectives align with passenger priorities. This Bill also includes the development of the new Passenger Standards Authority – with which Transport Focus and other organisations will work together, to form and provide a single organisation that will advocate for passengers across public transport networks.

Bus

• The Better Buses Bill also featured and will allow other areas to bring buses under public control (as Greater Manchester has started to do with the Bee Network). The bill aims to ‘accelerate’ the bus franchising process, allowing local leaders to take buses under public control faster. It would also remove the ban on setting up publicly owned bus companies and giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding.

You can read the full speech here.

We will continue to work closely with Government and our many stakeholders to ensure the voice of the transport user and their interests are at the heart of change.

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