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Research and Reports

A database of documents and reports released by industry bodies. You can download the document by clicking on its title, and can filter reports by author or subject. If you have a report you would like to submit to the Rail Hub, please email [email protected].

 

  • The Good Life

    01/07/2022
    Urban Transport Group SearchResearchItems

    A new era for suburbs should be supported by green, sustainable transport choices for all journeys and all people, to reflect the diversity of suburban life. The UTG argues that although around 80% of Britons live in suburbs, “these areas are often neglected” when it comes to transport planning, “drowned out on either side by the powerful voices of the city and the countryside”. The report urges policymakers to join the dots between transport and the decarbonisation of the suburbs more widely. Solutions could range from using community microgrids to power homes and transport, to the integration of blue and green assets (such as rain gardens and green roofs) into transport infrastructure.

  • Our asks of Government on Brexit and urban transport

    01/03/2019
    Urban Transport Group SearchResearchItems

    Giving “maximum assurances for existing EU staff in the transport sector” is among the key issues set out in this paper that UK government needs to address in relation to Brexit. Although UTG says it does not take a political position on Brexit, it says that concerns remain over how it might affect urban transport authorities - including on staff, funding and the future wider policy context in which UTG members are working. The paper argues that “as transport authorities it is our role to assess what its [Brexit’s] implications might be and to let government know what we think it should be prioritising for urban transport during any negotiations or preparations”.

  • Number Crunch: transport trends in the city regions

    02/04/2018
    Urban Transport Group SearchResearchItems

    Rail use in city regions “has been growing at a remarkable rate” and there has also been growth on trams and in light rail, says this Urban Transport Group report. However, it says there is “clear evidence” of a shift away from private cars in cities, and that nationally people are travelling less overall. The paper covers London as well as the metropolitan areas of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Tyne and Wear, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and the West Midlands; all have growing populations and economies.

  • The Scandinavian Way to Better Transport

    01/08/2017
    Urban Transport Group SearchResearchItems

    Key characteristics of Scandinavian public transport include high-frequency services, multi-modal ticketing and alignment of transport strategies across different levels of government plus other policy areas such as economic development and social cohesion. So says the UTG, which has compared transport in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and looks at how transport authorities there are using devolved powers. In Scandinavian countries, the report argues, “there is a political and public consensus that public transport is a public service.”

  • Rail Devolution Works

    01/07/2017
    Urban Transport Group SearchResearchItems

    In the headline for its first chapter this report says rail devolution is “a success story for passengers, cities and regions”. In rail terms, devolution now covers not only Merseyrail, Scotland and London Overground. As of last year the Northern and Trans-Pennine franchises came under Rail North which, the report says, “brings together local authorities in the North with the DfT” - and in 2017 West Midlands Rail “will play a key role in a new West Midlands franchise.” Although not wanting to see the railways “balkanised” the UTG says “the evidence presented in this report shows that for urban and regional rail services devolution works for passengers and for the places that devolved railways serve.”

  • Policy Futures for Urban Transport

    16/09/2016
    Urban Transport Group SearchResearchItems

    The Urban Transport Group calls for better East-West links to ensure the most is made of High-Speed 2; for a “long term investment plan for local, inter-regional, and inter-city services”; and extending rail devolution. The recommendations are part of a wider report that also covers buses and modal integration as well as funding. On the latter, recommendations include bringing a longer-term approach to local transport more akin to that taken for national infrastructure.