Upcoming election - what may it bring for transport?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

So ... a general election has been called, and a new government (if it goes full term) will run from 2017 to 2022.

During that time, electrification should reach Cardiff, Thingley and Newbury from Paddington, and the GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) franchise will be re-specified, bid, awarded, and started.

"Brexit" is the top topic on the agenda for this election, but what will it mean for public transport policy?

Will the Bus Services Bill now make it to law before parliament is dissolved?

Will the current problems on Southern have any noticeable effect on how people vote in Brighton commuter land?

What effect the significant overruns and cutbacks on electrification in our own area?

What policies will parties with a significant change of winning seats in our area be promoting?

[broadgage]

If the conservatives win the election as seems probable then I expect little change in transport policy.

The ongoing southern rail fiasco might possibly influence a few results but I doubt even that. Some southern victims hold the trades unions responsible and want them "dealt with" by firm government action, whilst that points towards more conservative votes, remember that they would probably have voted conservative anyway.
Other southern victims have sympathies with the strikers but that does not point to more labour votes since they were probably labour voters anyway.

Or put another way, the southern fiasco is more likely to CONFIRM peoples existing political views, rather than to ALTER such views.

[Zoe]

Will the Bus Services Bill now make it to law before parliament is dissolved?

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (amended by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013) sets the dissolution at the 25th working day before the date of the election.  This is on 3 May which is the day before the Mayoral elections which the Government were committed to getting the legislation through parliament by so it should still clear parliament before dissolution.

[ChrisB]

The workload prior to May 3 should May get her vote will be decided by the Leader of the Commons & his Shadow counterparts. Most likely to include everything that can be voted through with support from all parties. Anything contensious msy not find time available.

[Zoe]

The workload prior to May 3 should May get her vote will be decided by the Leader of the Commons & his Shadow counterparts. Most likely to include everything that can be voted through with support from all parties. Anything contensious msy not find time available.

Although in the case of the Bus Services Bill, if the Lords accept the amendments on Wednesday 26 April then it won't even need any more time in the Commons.  The only part that is likely to still be controversial is the ban on local authorities setting up new municipals but the Lords won't gain much by sending it back since the government have made their position quite clear.

[eightf48544]

Closure of the Channel Tunnel.

[Andy]

Closure of the Channel Tunnel.

To UK^▸ (United Kingdom)-bound trains for sure. Demand for single tickets in the other direction may surge....

[ChrisB]

I'm assuming that suggestion has a missing 'tongue-in-cheek' emoticon.

[eightf48544]

I'm assuming that suggestion has a missing 'tongue-in-cheek' emoticon.

Not necessarily.

[ChrisB]

it's totally over the top....

[Electric train]

My local MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context) seems to be pulling quite few tricks out of her handbag .................. brexitcuted Gove, curtailed Bojo, and now overturned the fixed term Parliament Act

Wonder if she can hold onto her 35,000 majority or will the people of Maidenhead go down in history of unseating the Prime Minister 

[Noggin]

Unfortunately I think the Conservative's instinctive position is to support roads so that their suburban and rural voters can drive their cars to work and the shops, and regards public transport as something they'd rather other people dealt with and paid for. Certainly the Conservative WoE Mayoral candidate does not inspire much confidence on this issue.

For all his faults, Osborne realised that he could wrong-foot Labour by supporting rail, particularly in the north of England where he could build a "commuting class" of (mainly) Conservative voters, and Boris realised that high-quality public transport would shore up his support as Mayor and annoy Ken Livingstone. With them gone and Grayling in the hot-seat, the party rather seems to be reverting to type, which is a shame, although of course by the end of this CP we will be left with a lot of shiny new infrastructure and trains, MML^» (Midland Main Line. - about) electrification will be (slowly) progressing, HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) should be gathering pace and with a bit of luck CR2 will be working its way through Parliament.

There are a few rays of sunshine though, in that if Osborne's strategy to win seats in northern England does work, then there might be a lot of younger new Conservative MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context) from metropolitan areas who understand the need for high-quality public transport. Furthermore devolution is pushing transport policy towards the regions, so whilst we might see fewer large projects like GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) electrification, there's perhaps more chance that we'll see more smaller projects such as reopenings, electrification etc. 

[simonw]

Looking at all the WoE Mayoral leaflets sent out this week, only two highlighted transport as their top issue,

• Stephen Williams
• John Savage

So, that kind of limits my choices

[TaplowGreen]

Taking into account the colossal overspend/overrun on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) electrification and ongoing serious reliability problems on the rails, favouring roads is a pretty easy sell for Westcountry Conservative MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context).

[Noggin]

Taking into account the colossal overspend/overrun on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) electrification and ongoing serious reliability problems on the rails, favouring roads is a pretty easy sell for Westcountry Conservative MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context).

I don't know. I think most people now get the idea that roads clog up as soon as they are built. You've got lots of people who regularly travel to London by train, you've got plenty of people who take the train to work and shop in places like Bristol and Bath. There's plenty of "low hanging fruit" in terms of station re-openings and enhancements to service levels which would be relatively inexpensive compared with building new roads and feasible now that stock is starting to be cascaded. Rebuilding the Severn Beach line as double-track would also be very well received by the folks of Bristol and transformational.