A Budget for public transport

Hello Shirley

After 14 years of fuel duty freezes and a five-year fuel duty cut, transport costs are still keeping five million people below the poverty line. Doggedly clinging to the cut in fuel duty - which has primary benefitted richer households and fuel retailers - whilst simultaneously prioritising road investment will not change this. That's why we have written to the Chancellor to urge her to use the forthcoming Budget to rebalance transport taxation and prioritise public transport to help hard-pressed households and provide the sustainable economic growth we need.

Ending the fuel duty cut

With the cost of petrol and diesel now much lower than when the "temporary" 5p fuel duty cut was introduced five years ago, allowing the cut to expire would recoup £2.6 billion a year in lost revenue. Reinstating the annual inflation-linked fuel duty rise would raise a further £1.6 billion in the first year alone. The impact on fuel bills for individuals would not be large, and the additional income could be invested in infrastructure improvements and public services to the benefit of millions of households.

Introducing a per-mile charge for electric vehicles

As more people switch to electric vehicles, revenue from fuel duty will plummet. The Chancellor should set out a process and timetable for introducing a simple, per-mile charge for EVs. This would be fair, and avoid a looming budget black hole. The charge should be low, so that it's still cheaper to drive a cleaner car.

Closing the aviation loophole

The Chancellor could also choose to close the loophole that provides airlines with tax-free fuel by introducing a kerosene tax at 33p a litre. Even after excluding 'lifeline flights' (those from remote islands in the UK to the mainland), this new tax would still raise £594 million per annum for the exchequer. Introducing a new ‘super’ rate of Air Passenger Duty – set at ten times the current higher rate – for all private jet passengers and charging VAT on all private jet flights would raise a further £1.5 billion to £2 billion a year.

Prioritising public transport

Public transport investment brings a much higher return than investment in roads. Boosting investment in local bus services and fare concessions would help tackle transport poverty and improve people's life chances. Cancelling the 2026 rail fare increase and speeding up fares and ticketing reforms would make trains more affordable and encourage more people to use them. We also want to see the Government commit to key rail infrastructure improvements.

With every Budget there are hard decisions to be made. The politics of increasing fuel duty are not easy, but nor are any of the other fiscal choices available to the Government. Transport investment is essential to economic growth, but not all transport investment is equal. Prioritising public transport investment will ensure we get sustainable economic growth which doesn't cost the earth.

Goodbye till next time

Silviya Barrett, Director of Policy & Campaigns
Campaign for Better Transport

No alternative offered, and new notifiaction within the last hour. 

I seem to recall a promise that the 17:35 off Swindon was some sort of protected train ... 

If you are at Swindon or Chippenham travelling to Trowbridge or Westbury you should travel on
the 17:57 Bristol Temple Meads service from Swindon (18:08 from Chippenham) and change at
Bath Spa for the 18:37 Portsmouth Harbour service which calls at Trowbridge (18:56) and
Westbury (19:04). However, if you are at Swindon or Chippenham earlier, you may take the first
available service via Bath Spa, via Melksham tickets will be accepted via Bath spa.
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If you are travelling to Melksham you should change at Chippenham where rail replacement taxis have been arranged to call at Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury.
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If you are at Melksham we will provide road transport to Trowbridge and Westbury from the station car park.
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Nothing on JourneyCheck less than 20 minutes from departure but Realtime Trains is reporting 1W29 1453 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street as cancelled due to unknown cause (ZW).

Tempted to walk the first bit and bail out as necessary if that's ok. What are your plans to travel to Stroud please?

Mark

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

Further Information

If you arrive at your destination 15 or more minutes late because your GWR train was delayed or cancelled, you can claim Delay Repay compensation. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR.com/DelayRepay
Last Updated:07/11/2025 14:11

No alternative offered, and new notifiaction within the last hour. 

I seem to recall a promise that the 17:35 off Swindon was some sort of protected train ... 

16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:06
17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19

17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:19 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Further Information

If you arrive at your destination 15 or more minutes late because your GWR train was delayed or cancelled, you can claim Delay Repay compensation. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR.com/DelayRepay

Last Updated:07/11/2025 13:12

Is / will Lawrence Hill be a barriered station?

Friday November 7

Unreported on JourneyCheck, 1P02 05:23 Hereford to London Paddington (08:24) is only five cars today.

Friday November 7


I do like "trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines".

It makes sense ... and the article goes on very positive. I would agree with the case for a second train in the hour from Swindon via Stroud - not new. And for a fourth train in the hour from Cheltenham Spa into Birmingham.  Big senses to join them up too.  There is also a case for Swindon to Oxford every hour, and for Swindon to Westbury every hour, and with all of these services to be properly resourced - enough trains and staff to run them.

There was a plan a few years ago for Virgin Cross Country to run cut down 5 coach HST's from Birmingham New Street to London Paddington via Cheltenham and Swindon and as part of this plan Swindon - Gloucester/Cheltenham services were transferred to Virgin XC but after the transfer it was discovered that there were insufficient paths into the London Terminus so the service was transferred back. I am sure there was a thread on this perhaps the moderators can post a link to that thread.

A long-lost direct rail route between Swindon and Birmingham could soon be on track for a return.

The proposed service, which last ran in the early 2000s, could be reinstated through the Midlands Rail Hub project - a £1.75 billion investment aimed at improving rail connections across the Midlands, South West, and South Wales.

The proposed route would run via Stroud and Stonehouse, creating more than two million additional seats per year between Swindon and Birmingham.

The last direct service between the two towns ended more than 20 years ago, forcing passengers to change trains in Cheltenham, Gloucester, or Reading.

Swindon North MP Will Stone met with Midlands Connect and rail leaders at Swindon railway station to discuss the scheme’s potential to deliver up to 130 extra trains per week between Swindon and Birmingham.

He was joined by Councillor Chris Watts, Cabinet Member for Transport; Councillor Fay Howard, Mayor of Swindon; Tom Lydon, Head of Public Affairs at Great Western Railway and Adam King, Head of Policy and Partnerships from England's Economic Heartland.

Delays to services between Worcestershire Parkway Hl and Evesham
Due to a speed restriction between Worcestershire Parkway Hl and Evesham trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.
Train services running through these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. Disruption is expected until 10:30 07/11.
Customer Advice
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What has happened?
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One of our train services have reported an issue in this area that will need to be investigated.
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What are we doing about it?
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Engineers are being mobilised to go to site. Until the issue is looked into trains in this area will need to run at a reduced speed.
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What are my options?
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We are sorry for the delay to your journey today. Below are the current options available to you:
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Option 1: Use the National Rail Enquiries real-time journey planner to check if a journey by rail is currently possible. If you are at a station please check the Live Departure Boards or speak to a member of our station team.
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Option 2: Replacement transport provided by us such as a buses, coaches or taxis, have not been requested at this time. We will continue to monitor the need for this as the situation develops and provide updates here.
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Option 3: Travel at a later time. You might want to consider postponing your journey until our service returns to normal.
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Last Updated:07/11/2025 07:33

Can someone explain the logic behind this?

A bit cheaper than some of the other examples.

The Portsmouth Direct line Guildford to Havant is being engineered this week end. So I go to the National Rail site for tickets/prices with rail card:
Reading - Havant, Cross Country via Southampton Central £45.35
Reading - Havant, South Western via Eastleigh  £24.00

Reading - Portsmouth Harbour, Cross Country via Southampton Central £25.20
Reading - Portsmouth Harbour, South Western via Eastleigh  £25.20

Can someone explain the logic behind this?

That statement sounded more than disappointing, it was heartbreaking.  I'm trying to restrain myself but what sort of indifferent bureaucracy can do this?

Poorly I believe