Transport for the North launch Strategic Transport Plan in Parliament

Sub-national transport body, Transport for the North, has taken its Strategic Transport Plan to Parliament at the Transport Across the North All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) reception.

The event gave TfN officers the opportunity to showcase their plans for investing in transport infrastructure in the North to the region’s politicians as well as other stakeholders in the sector. The reception also highlighted TfN’s work supporting the Department for Transport and local authorities on policy.

APPG Chair Andrew Jones MP, as well as TfN’s Martin Tugwell and Lord Patrick McLoughlin also gave speeches that set out their vision for transforming the North through strategic investment. 

TfN’s Strategic Transport Plan was published in March 2024 and builds on the organisation’s previous blueprint for transport investment in the North from 2019. The new Plan is focused on the outcomes needed for people and places, seeking to better connect communities and businesses with services and opportunities. It also includes robust monitoring and evaluation to measure progress year-on-year to make sure the Plan is on track. Work in the Strategic Transport Plan includes:

• The North’s ambition for near zero emissions from surface transport in the region by 2045
• Efforts to reduce car dependency and create the capacity required to grow patronage on our public transport networks
• The scale of change required in accessibility needed to unlock opportunity and reduce social exclusion by one million people by 2050
• A long-term ambition to treble the share of freight carried by rail

Lord McLoughlin, Chair of Transport for the North, said when the Strategic Transport Plan was published:

“Our Strategic Transport Plan sets out Transport for the North’s statutory advice to government on how the North, speaking with one voice, can reach a sustainable, socially inclusive transport network for the future, support growth and employment opportunities.

“The STP will lay the foundations for the transport infrastructure investment for the North for decades to come. We will provide further advice to government on how the plan can be implemented, from the pan-regional investment pipeline required, to efficiencies in how transport infrastructure and services are delivered. The evidence in this STP shows how with sustained investment, the right policy levers and enabling behaviour change, we can truly transform the North.”