A look at the transport industry in December
Continuing the theme of the last few months, December has brought several major developments for transport – despite only being halfway through.
The Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, was thrown in right at the deep end when, on her first full week in the job, the Government’s rail nationalisation agenda dominated headlines. The news that South Western Railway will be the first to flip from private to state-run operator brings nationalisation a step closer.
The Department for Transport has been busy elsewhere, with the Bus Services Bill being released on the 17th of December. Overhauling bus services is a priority for Ministers, and this new legislation contained measures designed to make public transport safer, particularly tackling antisocial behaviour and violence against women and girls – including training for drivers so that they can identify and respond to threats.
The National Planning Policy Framework fleshed out the repeated promise of a “vision-led” transport strategy, with emphasis on new neighbourhoods being built with safe and sustainable travel and access to social infrastructure in mind.
The English Devolution Bill sent shockwaves through local government circles with the news that several authorities are set to be merged or abolished, with the possibility of next year’s local elections being postponed in affected areas. Beneath the headlines, the Bill’s publication confirmed that powers over micromobility would be devolved to metro mayors, creating the potential for dramatically different legislative environments for the use of e-bikes and e-scooters across England.
And weary workers counting down the number of commutes until Christmas will be relieved to hear that Euston’s ad boards will finally display travel – instead of commercial – information, in what feels like a symbolically important change.
Below we take a look in more detail at what’s been happening in our core policy areas of transport, decarbonisation and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Follow us on twitter and LinkedIn or sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with our analysis of key industry topics.
If you need help with any of these policy areas, or anything else, email us at info@jfgcomms.co.uk. If you would like to shape the content you read about in future monthly transport roundups, please take a moment to complete our poll.
Building advocacy for a new railway electrification testing system
Celebrating two nominations in the 2025 Public Affairs Awards
Active travel
Public transport
Buses
Rail
E-mobility
E-vehicles
E-scooters
Accessibility
Building advocacy for a new railway electrification testing system
This month we’ve been working with our client, family-owned railway engineering company, Furrer+Frey, to demonstrate their new railway electrification testing system. Using remotely moveable equipment, the system could save millions in construction costs and speed up existing railways. It was successfully demonstrated earlier this month at the Global Centre for Rail Excellence in South Wales.
Celebrating two nominations in the 2025 Public Affairs Awards
We’ve been shortlisted for two awards in the PRCA Public Affairs Awards 2025. Our Founder and CEO, Jo Field, has been named as a finalist in the ‘Public Affairs Woman of the Year’ category, recognising her leadership of equality, diversity and inclusion in the transport and public affairs industries. And JFG Comms has been shortlisted in the ‘Best In-House Consultancy Collaboration’ category for our work with Transport East on their Regional Strategy Hub.
Active travel
- Schoolchildren joined politicians and activists earlier this month for the launch of a new Edinburgh cycling and walking route. The Roseburn to Union Canal active travel route is designed to encourage more people to make greener travel choices to help make Edinburgh net zero by 2030.
- Transport for London has published new data from its annual Travel in London report showing further increases in the levels of cycling in London. The data shows the number of daily cycle journeys increased in 2024 to an estimated 1.33 million journeys per day, up by five per cent from 1.26 million in 2023, and up by 26 per cent since 2019.
Public transport
Buses
- The Bus Services Bill has been Introduced In the House of Lords, setting out plans to give local authorities control over routes, timetables, connection and fares, putting buses back at the heart of communities.
The Bill will also improve safety for both customers and staff by mandating that drivers undertake training to identify and respond to threats of violence against women and girls and anti-social behaviour on buses and at bus stops. - Motorists have been fined more than £1.5 million for going through city centre bus gates In Aberdeen between November 2023and July 2024.The traffic measures are intended to speed up bus journeys and encourage alternative forms of travel such as cycling or walking.
Rail
- Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has announced that passenger train operations will be transferred to government control at an average of one every three months. The government confirmed on December 3 that South Western Railway, c2c and Greater Anglia will be the first firms to have its services transferred to DfT Operator Limited in 2025.
- Customers using Transport for London and Network Rail services in London can now access Google Street View to help them plan their journeys through and around large or underground stations. The introduction of Street View at 18 busy stations particularly aims to support customers who are less confident travelling or have accessibility needs by enabling familiarisation with the station before they travel
E-mobility
E-vehicles
- Motorway services and hubs are the most used public charging locations among EV drivers, new Zapmap research reveals. Its newly published Annual Charging Insights Report 2024 reveals 53% of drivers now report using charging hubs, up from 47% last year in the fourth year of growth.
- Auto Trader’s latest motoring forecast estimates there were 18.7m petrol-powered cars on the roads this year, but that this will steadily decrease from 2025 to 11.1m by 2034. The online vehicle platform expects a “seismic shift” towards electric vehicles in the next 10 years as affordability improves, from 1.25m in 2024 to 13.7m.
- The UK hit a new electric vehicle sales record last month, with over 25% of all car registrations in November being electric – according to New AutoMotive’s latest Electric Car Count. That is the highest market share for EVs since December 2022.
E-scooters
- Slough’s e-scooter scheme, temporarily paused, is now back with new operator Voi Technology. Starting 10th December, Voi will manage 120 e-scooters, with the option to expand to 300. The scheme runs until 2026.
Accessibility
- More than 90% of disabled people face barriers when using at least one mode of transport, according to data from the National Centre for Accessible Transport. When accessing rail services alone, eight-in-ten people using wheelchairs or scooters found barriers to step-free access.
We hope you found this roundup interesting and informative. Follow us on twitter and LinkedIn or sign up to our mailing listto keep up to date with our analysis of key industry topics. If you need help with any of these policy areas, or anything else, email us at info@jfgcomms.co.uk. If you would like to shape the content you read about in future monthly transport roundups, please take a moment to complete our poll.
