| Norman Fowler @ | 5 January 1981 | 14 September 1981 |
| David Howell | 14 September 1981 | 11 June 1983 |
| Tom King | 11 June 1983 | 16 October 1983 |
| Hon. Nicholas Ridley | 16 October 1983 | 21 May 1986 |
| John Moore | 21 May 1986 | 13 June 1987 |
| Paul Channon | 13 June 1987 | 24 July 1989 |
| Cecil Parkinson | 24 July 1989 | 28 November 1990 |
| Malcolm Rifkind | 28 November 1990 | 10 April 1992 |
| John MacGregor | 11 April 1992 | 20 July 1994 |
| Brian Mawhinney | 20 July 1994 | 5 July 1995 |
| Sir George Young | 5 July 1995 | 2 May 1997 |
| John Prescott * | 2 May 1997 | 7 June 2001 |
| Stephen Byers * | 8 June 2001 | 28 May 2002 |
| Alistair Darling | 29 May 2002 | 5 May 2006 |
| Douglas Alexander | 5 May 2006 | 28 June 2007 |
| Ruth Kelly | 28 June 2007 | 5 October 2008 |
| Geoff Hoon | 5 October 2008 | 5 June 2009 |
| Andrew Adonis | 6 June 2009 | 6 May 2010 |
| Philip Hammond | 12 May 2010 | 14 October 2011 |
| Justine Greening | 14 October 2011 | 6 September 2012 |
| Patrick McLoughlin | 6 September 2012 | 14 July 2016 |
| Chris Grayling | 14 July 2016 | 24 July 2019 |
| Grant Shapps | 24 July 2019 | 6 September 2022 |
| Anne-Marie Trevelyan | 6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 |
| Mark Harper | 25 October 2022 | Incumbent |
* - Brief included other elements than transport in a combined ministry.
@ - prior to this, Norman Fowler was Transport Minister - same job, no seat at Cabinet table.
25 different ministers in 42 years - to me it doesn't feel like that's a good recipe for long term guidance of public transport.
Under the Secretary of State for Transport, there have been quite a number of Rail Ministers; some of the Secretaries of State have delegated substantially to them and we have met / interacted with the rail minister. At other times the rail minister really has not been visible. Some ministers (both SoS and Rail) have been excellent, well informed (and have gone out of their way to learn) and effective, even when presenting / explaining bad news. Others, sadly, have been the opposite.
