The Green Party has vowed to bring rail services into public control and divert all funds for major road building to public transport, fare reductions and potholes.
With the Conservatives and Labour both outlining their policies this week, the Green’s manifesto has pledged to create a ‘socially just’ transport system that has walking and disabled access as its highest priority.
It says the party would bring the ‘fragmented and uncoordinated’ privatised rail services back into public ownership as each franchise comes up for renewal and at ‘very little’ cost. Organisation of services could be linked to democratic accountability at local and city region levels.
The Greens also outlined targets to expand electrification to around three quarters of the network, actively promote design of new rolling stock and scrap HS2 in favour of conventional links between cities and reopening stations.
Speaking to Transport Network, Green Party transport spokesperson Rupert Read said the party would bring about a ‘climate-friendly transport revolution’.
Abolition of the national major roads programme would save £15bn over five years, which could fund the £8bn cost of reducing fares by a 10% average over the next Parliament. The Greens said it would also allocate funds to repairing highways, walking and cycling and improving public transport.
The party vowed to spend at least £30 per head on supporting pedestrians and cyclists each year if it takes power in May.
Local public transport was a central focus of the party’s manifesto, with plans for services to be made cost free for young people and students at a cost of around £4bn every year. The party vowed to support free services for pensioners and develop regional smart payment systems similar to London’s Oyster card.
Under plans laid out today, road pricing schemes similar to the London Congestion Charge would see widespread introduction while speed limits would be cut across main and residential routes to as low as 20mph.
Affirming their environmental position, the Greens said they would block any new runways and ban planes from flying at night.
The manifesto also pledges to restrict the ability of the communities secretary to call in planning applications. The Greens would scrap the National Planning Policy Framework and what the party called 'its presumption in favour of economic development' and restrict the rights of residents to appeal planning decisions.
It also outlines how the party would force local authorities to set out a local carbon plan that details how a region will meet greenhouse gas reduction targets.
Mr Read said: ‘We want to see Britain in the 21st century move from an unresilient, unsustainable, out-of-date motor-vehicle centric and “predict-and-provide” model to a vision of a more localised transport system, more immune to fuel-shocks and more mitigatory of dangerous climate-change and run for the public good.’
