By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.
Accept
routeonerouteonerouteone
  • News
    • Show all
    • Awards & Events
    • Deliveries
    • Environment
    • Exhibitor News
    • Euro Bus Expo 2024
    • Features
    • Legal
    • Minibus and minicoach
    • Operators
    • Opinion
    • People
    • Suppliers
    • Vehicles
  • Vehicles
    • Find a Vehicle
    • ZEV Comparison Tool
    • Sell a Vehicle
    • Vehicle Seller Dashboard
  • Insights
  • Careers
  • Events
    • British Tourism & Travel Show
    • Euro Bus Expo
    • Innovation Challenge
    • Livery Competition
    • routeone Awards
  • Advertise
  • Contact
    • Share your news
    • Subscribe
    • Update Subscription Details
  • Latest Issue
  • SIGN UP
Search
© 2024 routeone News. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Huw Merriman announced as Chair of Transport Select Committee
Share
Font ResizerAa
routeonerouteone
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • News
    • Show all
    • Awards & Events
    • Deliveries
    • Environment
    • Exhibitor News
    • Euro Bus Expo 2024
    • Features
    • Legal
    • Minibus and minicoach
    • Operators
    • Opinion
    • People
    • Suppliers
    • Vehicles
  • Vehicles
    • Find a Vehicle
    • ZEV Comparison Tool
    • Sell a Vehicle
    • Vehicle Seller Dashboard
  • Insights
  • Careers
  • Events
    • British Tourism & Travel Show
    • Euro Bus Expo
    • Innovation Challenge
    • Livery Competition
    • routeone Awards
  • Advertise
  • Contact
    • Share your news
    • Subscribe
    • Update Subscription Details
  • Latest Issue
  • SIGN UP
Follow US
© 2024 routeone News | Powered by Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd
- Advertisement -
-
routeone > News > Huw Merriman announced as Chair of Transport Select Committee
NewsOpinionPolitics

Huw Merriman announced as Chair of Transport Select Committee

Westminster Watcher
Westminster Watcher
Published: February 5, 2020
Share
SHARE

The Conservative MP has highlighted some ‘specific’ proposals for the bus industry

A couple of weeks ago I suggested that Stephen Hammond, the Conservative MP for Wimbledon, would make a great Chair of the Transport Select Committee. Well, he didn’t even apply for the job. Instead, it’s gone to Huw Merriman, the Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle since 2015.

Contents
The Conservative MP has highlighted some ‘specific’ proposals for the bus industryBus proposalsBringing change

Huw Merriman has actually been a member of the Committee since he became an MP, and occasionally deputised for the previous Chair, Lilian Greenwood. I have to say I’ve always been quite impressed, for my money he was one of the best members of the Committee: Well informed, rigorous in his questioning of witnesses but without being unnecessarily aggressive.

In his statement as to why he was standing for the Chair, he said he did not believe that the transport sector delivers value for the UK, with too many revolving doors, a lack of competition, accountability and responsibility leading to poor service and provision.

Bus proposals

And he highlighted some specific proposals for the bus industry. A bus route, he believes, should become an Asset of Community Value – meaning, like pubs, the service would have to remain running for six months “to encourage new providers to step in and save routes before they vanish.”

In the past he has also called for bus services to be retained where essential public services, such as GP surgeries, are on a route.

I must confess I’ve never quite seen a bus service in the same context as a local pub. Nor do I entirely follow his thinking that requiring a route to run for a minimum of six months will encourage new providers.

Desirable as that may be from one perspective, surely this kind of inflexibility might actually deter new providers and simply play into the hands of the “big five” operators.

Bringing change

Be that as it may, it seems clear to me that Huw Merriman is not going to give the bus industry an easy time as and when the Committee gets around to holding its next inquiry into the industry. Nor should he, of course.

I suspect he won’t give any witness, or any sector, an easy time. He will be well informed, robust in his questioning and perhaps rather more forensic than I felt Lilian Greenwood and, before her, Louise Ellman, ever were.

In this new parliament there is an opportunity for the Transport Committee to change the dynamic of its inquiries. Historically, these have tended to be very focused on the performance of a particular mode of transport, or to probe performance of the delivery of particular projects.

I think it would be more interesting to hold inquires to assess how transport contributes to wider economic and social policy agendas and objectives, and how the industry, and indeed the Department for Transport (DfT) itself, can be held more accountable for its performance than I believe it currently is – a point on which I wholeheartedly agree with Huw Merriman.

I’m looking forward to seeing Huw Merriman in action.

 

 

 

Share This Article
Facebook LinkedIn Threads Email Copy Link
Previous Article Ravenshead Community Transport: New EVM Cityline
Next Article Idling – has anyone thought about the driver?
- Advertisement -

Latest News

Temsa HD12 and HD13 delivered to Cresta Coaches under Asset Alliance rental deal
Temsa pair join Cresta Coaches on Asset Alliance rental agreement
Deliveries
Go-Ahead London – Managing Director
Careers Jobs
andy burnham tfgm £15.6 billion (1) The funding announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves today (4 June) has been allocated to several combined mayoral authorities to use on rail, tram, road and bus infrastructure. Transport for Greater Manchester revealed today that part of the £2.5 billion it will receive will go towards making the Bee Network fully battery-electric by 2030. An as-yet undecided portion of that will support a planned investment in 1,000 new zero-emission buses over that period, the mayoral authority said. That is part of plans to build the UK's "first fully integrated, zero-emission public transport system", with trams and trains also set to benefit. Liverpool City Region's already announced BRT system is among the projects to which its £1.6 billion will be allocated. Under those plans - due for realisation by 2028 - a high-speed network will be served by articulated buses which are modelled on the 'Glider' in Belfast. It is due to link Liverpool city centre with John Lennon Airport, and Liverpool FC and Everton FC's respective stadia along three routes. Although the model of bus has not been confirmed, a Van Hool Exqui.City on loan from Belfast was last year used as a demonstrator. That 18m vehicle can accommodate around 30% more passengers than a typical bus and has three sets of double doors. The funding will also go towards buses elsewhere in the city as the region heads towards franchising services by 2027. Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram with a 'Glider' which was on loan from Belfast last year - an example of the sort of bus which could serve the new BRT Bus services in the East Midlands region will be boosted by the funding, thanks to the £2 billion handed to it today by the government. Some of that allocation will be used for a rapid transit network on the Trent Arc between Nottingham and Derby. Between the two cities, the Freeport, Infinity Park Investment Zone and Ratcliffe-on-Soar will also benefit from the improved bus services. South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority's newly announced commitment towards bus franchising has been boosted by £350 million in funding as part of that region's allocation. The funding for West Yorkshire will help build new bus stations in Bradford and Wakefield. Likewise, the Tees Valley Mayoral Authority will put its sum towards a new £15 million bus station in Middlesbrough. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander says: "Today marks a watershed moment on our journey to improving transport across the North and Midlands – opening up access to jobs, growing the economy and driving up quality of life as we deliver our Plan for Change. "For too long, people in the North and Midlands have been locked out of the investment they deserve. With £15.6bn of government investment, we’re giving local leaders the means to drive cities, towns and communities forward, investing in Britain’s renewal so you and your family are better off."
TfGM’s all-electric bus plan boosted by new £15.6 billion package
News
Local Transport Minister opens First Bus electric depot in Hengrove
Local Transport Minister opens First Bus electric depot in Hengrove
Bus
- Advertisement -
-

routeone magazine is the indispensable resource for professional UK coach, bus and minibus operators. The home of vehicle sales and the latest bus and coach job vacancies, routeone connects professional PCV operators with complete and unrivalled news coverage.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • GDPR Policy
  • Sustainability
  • Advertise
  • Latest Issue
  • Share Your News
routeonerouteone
Follow US
© 2024 routeone News | Powered by Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd