18th September

The Department for Transport has announced changes to the way you can purchase a ticket

Rail Minister Norman Baker has announced plans for a pilot scheme that could see all long-distance rail tickets sold on a single-leg basis and allow passengers to more easily “mix and match” each ticket type when planning a return journey.Currently the government regulates the price of off-peak return fares, meaning train operating companies are able to price other tickets including off-peak singles more freely. This can lead to a situation where the cost of single tickets is similar to that of returns. By regulating off-peak singles instead, passengers would be able to choose the most appropriate ticket for each leg of their journey. It could also help tackle crowding by giving passengers more choice over which service they travel on.

11th September

Speech by Transport Minister Patrick McLoughlin MP  on HS2 reveals modal split when it comes to future transport investment as follows:

• £24 billion on investment in our strategic roads network including 400 miles of extra lanes on our motorways
• 195 local pinchpoint schemes to bust jams
• £37.5 billion by Network Rail between 2014 and 2019
• Crossrail and Thameslink in London
• a 850 mile national programme of rail electrification
• new trains on the East Coast and Great Western mainlines and a new factory in the north-east to build them

To be matched by a spending review settlement that will see more than £70 billion of further capital investment in transport in the next parliament. Including a tripling of the national roads budget.