Mayors could be given powers to take greater control over rail services, Andy Burnham has hinted.
The Greater Manchester Mayor said he wanted to bring trains into the city’s Bee Network which brings together bus and tram services. This could allow a contactless payment system similar to Transport for London (TfL) across the whole fo the transport network.
His comments come as Deputy PM Angela Rayner promises on Monday to make devolution the “default setting” for councils across the country. In a major speech she will set out new powers in a white paper for mayors across the country to “guide” development projects “across areas, housing, transport and skills”.
Ms Rayner will say: “Our English devolution white paper will be a turning point when we finally see communities, people and places across England begin to take back control over the things that matter to them.”
(
Manchester Evening News)
She will add: “It’s a plan for putting more money in people’s pockets, putting politics back in the service of working people and a plan for stability, investment and reform, not chaos, austerity and decline, that will deliver a decade of national renewal.
“Devolution will no longer be agreed at the whim of a minister in Whitehall, but embedded in the fabric of the country, becoming the default position of government.”
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday Mr Burnham said the new powers could involve rail. He said: “The British state is tilting away from Whitehall and Westminster for the first time properly and towards the regions.
“For us it’s going to mean more control over rail. We’re bringing in the Bee Network – an integrated public transport system like London. We’ll finish the re-regulation of buses in January. We’ll have a London payment system in March. And then we want to bring rail into the Bee Network and the white paper I understand is going to promise that.”