The Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020. This briefing provides analysis of the impacts on the aviation and road haulage sectors at the end of the transition period whether the UK and EU enter into an agreement or not.
Documents to download
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Railways: light rail schemes (102 KB, PDF)
The heyday of light rail in the UK was in the 1980s-90s when light rail systems were planned for dozens of areas across the country. For one reason or another most of these failed to materialise. Nevertheless, light rail or tram scheme were opened in London and other metropolitan areas such as Manchester, the West Midlands, Nottingham, Tyne and Wear and Sheffield between the late 1970s and 2004.
Although all of these systems have expanded since then there has been no significant, new light rail scheme proposed in recent years and there has long been a debate about the high cost of this type of scheme. In September 2011 the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government published new guidance aimed at encouraging the development of light rail schemes. It remains to be seen how successful this will be.
This note looks at the policies of successive governments towards light rail and provides information about reports that have been published about the same over the past eight years.
This note does not cover devolved schemes, such as the controversial Edinburgh tram, or the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Information on the DLR can be found in HC Library note SN415.
Documents to download
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Railways: light rail schemes (102 KB, PDF)
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A Westminster Hall debate on an e-petition relating to funding for Transport for London [free transport for under-18s ] is scheduled for Monday 30 November 2020, from 6-7:30pm. Ellliot Colburn MP of the Petitions Committee, will open the debate.
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This paper provides an overview of the current rail system, including how it is delivered and how it performed and was financed up until the spring of 2020 when the UK locked down in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. It explains the impact of the pandemic on services and funding and sets out reforms to rail passenger services (franchises) as a result of the pandemic. The final section discusses the Williams Rail Review, initiated in 2018 and yet to report publicly, setting out the emerging conclusions and key questions to be answered.
