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June – a decisive month for UK transport

A look at the transport industry in June

As Parliament and politics in general groan towards the summer recess, June brought significant developments across the UK transport sector.

Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, set out a sweeping £725 billion 10-year infrastructure strategy, one of the most comprehensive in decades. The plan includes a £590 million allocation to the Lower Thames Crossing, which is set to alleviate pressure on the M25 with construction starting in 2026. This came on top of the spending review, which allocated more than £15 billion to metro mayors for regional transport projects, as well as nearly £3 billion to accelerate the take up of electric vehicles.

A reformed National Infrastructure Commission will oversee faster project delivery, aiming to slash red tape and accelerate development.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander made a clean break with the past by accepting all the recommendations from the recent Stewart review into HS2, promising a reset of the programme including reviewing the costs and schedule, renegotiating construction contracts and reviewing HS2 Ltd’s skills and structure. Mike Brown CBE MVO has been appointed as Chair of HS2 Ltd to oversee the programme reset alongside CEO Mark Wild.

While the fragility of transport infrastructure was exposed by disruption to Eurostar services caused by cable theft, the very best of innovation was on display in Coventry, where trials began the city’s new battery-powered light rail system.

After decades of public concern about safety and excessive pricing, TfL unveiled plans to license pedicab operators in a widely popular move. The measures will introduce mandatory checks and insurance requirements.

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 X 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. 

  • We were delighted that our Founder and CEO, Jo Field, was shortlisted for the ‘Communications/Marketing Professional of the Year – Agency’ award at this year’s Women in Green Business Awards earlier this month.

    Diversity and decarbonisation are at the heart of everything we do at JFG Comms, so it’s great to receive recognition for our team’s hard work and to be recognised for this by the Women in Green Business Awards.

    These awards showcase people and businesses committed to tackling gender inequalities as they drive forward UK climate action, while celebrating the role women are already playing in building the UK’s green economy.

  • This month we have been working with our client, Voi, to formulate an idea for a news story focusing on our their success in Oslo and implications for the UK. We took this idea from pitch to print, supporting the journalist and coordinating several stakeholders in the UK and Norway. The final product, a feature in the Times, raised the profile of Voi and landed our key messages surrounding micromobility in Europe vs the UK.
  • April 2025 recorded the month’s highest number of Santander bike hires within the capital for the past three years, according to data released by Transport for London (TfL). In April, TfL recorded 761,213 hires by commuters and leisure riders, more than an 11% increase over April 2024.
  • TfL has launched a series of new maps during National Walking Month showing the walking times and distances between stations. New downloadable street maps of the City of London and the West End show walking routes, distance in meters and how long it takes to travel on foot between TfL stations. Areas with shops and amenities are shown on the maps, while sections with sloping terrain are also marked out to help inform people with accessibility needs. A third map shows walking times and distances between stations in Zones 1-2. 
  • The UK government has announced a £32M investment aimed at improving road safety and cycling infrastructure in the North East and Yorkshire, focusing on repairing potholes and creating new cycle lanes. The funding comprises £20M dedicated to resurfacing roads in the North East and Yorkshire, addressing pothole damage that deters cycling, especially among women. Research by Cycling UK has found that 58% of women limit their cycling journeys due to safety concerns and inadequate infrastructure, while 36% cite poor road conditions as a significant barrier. In addition, nearly £13M has been allocated to develop new cycle lanes and pavements in the North East, as part of a broader £291M national scheme to promote active travel, encouraging more walking, cycling and scooting. The government projects these improvements could facilitate 30M additional journeys by bike or foot annually and generate 43,000 fewer sick days nationwide, contributing an estimated £1.4bn to the UK economy.
  • A total of 23 organisations across Glasgow have been awarded a share of £150,000 to promote cycling and wheeled sports. The funding comes from the newly established Wheels in Motion Fund, aimed at encouraging physical activity through sports such as skateboarding, roller-skating, and scootering. This is part of an initiative by Glasgow City Council, which began in January, to support projects that get local residents, especially from underrepresented groups, involved in these sports.
  • Scotland’s regional transport bodies will be able to apply for a share of £23.5 million to improve active travel, the Scottish Government has announced. The cash is intended for programmes that will improve walking and cycling across the country, with projects required to satisfy one of four themes based around schools, businesses, accessibility and inclusion or capacity and capability.
  • Bike Week 2025 took place from 9th to 15th June. Bike Week shone a spotlight on the many ways cycling benefits us all – from boosting health and wellbeing to cutting carbon emissions and creating more connected communities. It was a week to celebrate the simple joy of getting on a bike and to inspire others to give it a go.
  • Billions of pounds of investment in transport infrastructure in England have been announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Summer Spending Review. The money will be spent on tram, train and bus projects in mayoral authorities across the Midlands, the North and the West Country. You can read our analysis on the full review here.
  • The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched its Transport AI Action Plan, setting out how it will work with the transport sector to exploit the opportunities from AI while managing and mitigating potential risks. The action plan focuses on setting the foundations to embed AI in transport, preparing both the sector and the organisations which enable it for rapid change. The plan sets out longer-term ambitions for an AI-enabled transport future and how it will help to deliver the Government’s Missions and DfT priorities including, kickstarting economic growth, breaking down barriers to opportunity, delivering greener transport and cementing the UK position at the forefront of the AI revolution.
  • Cardiff’s ambition to transform public transport is gathering pace, with the first phase of the Cardiff Crossrail targeted for completion by 2028 – just in time for the city to welcome visitors as a host for the UEFA European Football Championships. This milestone marks a major step forward for Cardiff Crossrail, which aims to deliver a modern tram system connecting Plasdwr in the north west of the city with the proposed new Parkway rail station in the east.
  • Transport for London has proposed a cross-river extension of the DLR, which will run from Gallions Reach to Thameshead via Beckton Riverside. They have now announced an open consultation event where people can have their say on it. TfL held an initial consultation last year, which had a positive response and found that 75% of people think that the proposal will make journeys quicker.  Further surveys found that 85% supported the proposals. This consultation will focus on the preferred route and station locations, on which the public can give feedback. The consultation will be held from 23rd June until Sunday, 17th August 2025.
  • London is leading the way with the largest zero-emission fleet in Western Europe. There are now more than 2,000 zero-emission buses on the capital’s streets helping to improve the city’s air quality and reducing its carbon emissions. This means two in every nine of London’s world-famous red buses have now gone green, which is more than 20 per cent of the entire bus fleet, increasing from 30 in 2016. TfL’s target is to make its entire bus fleet zero-emission by 2030,
  • Greater Manchester has taken another step towards a green revolution, as the Bee Network has completed the first fully electric bus depot in Tameside. The depot in Ashton is now home to 83 Volvo BZL MCV Double Deck zero-tailpipe emission buses, making 14 routes fully electric. The depot, which is operated by Metroline on behalf of TfGM, boasts 27 dual chargers allowing 54 electric buses to be charged at any one time.
  • Greater Manchester’s Bee Network is changing the way people get around the region and is delivering benefits to communities across the region, according to a new report. The report, ‘Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester’, sets out the story so far since bus franchising was launched in September 2023, including the wide-ranging positive impacts for passengers and communities. By bringing buses back under local control as part of the Bee Network, services are now more punctual than those they replaced and, with affordable and integrated ticketing with Metrolink, more people are choosing to travel by bus in a massive vote of confidence in Greater Manchester public transport system, the report says.
  • Network Rail is set to tap into clean energy from a newly commissioned solar farm in Norfolk, thanks to a landmark deal with EDF Renewables UK. Construction at Bloy’s Grove, just outside Swainsthorpe and within sight of the Great Eastern Main Line, is poised to begin, with the energy generated playing a pivotal role in decarbonising Britain’s railway infrastructure. At the heart of this initiative is a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA), the first of its kind for the UK rail network. Under the 14-year agreement, Network Rail will purchase 64 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable electricity annually at a fixed cost. This will account for around 15% of the electricity needed to power its offices, depots, and managed stations, collectively referred to as non-traction energy.
  • The tunnel boring machine ‘Emily’ has completed her 3.4-mile drive, becoming the third of four machines to complete its work on the 8.4-mile long Northolt Tunnel for the HS2 rail project. Northolt Tunnel, between the outer edge of the capital and the new Old Oak Common station in west London, is the second longest tunnel on the HS2 line, after the 10-mile Chiltern tunnel.
  • More than 17,000 ScotRail trains were cancelled in the last year, a freedom of information request has found. The data, released after a request by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, found 17,491 services were cancelled in 2024/25. Some 306,120 trains did not arrive within a minute of their scheduled arrival time, which the party said accounted for 45% of all trains. Another 71,691 were late by five or more minutes – around 10% of all trains.
  • Highland, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray Councils have announced that EasyGo has been awarded a 20-year contract to provide EV charging infrastructure for the north of Scotland. The contract is estimated to be worth £300 million, with Highland Council acting as the lead authority. The news follows the Scottish Government providing more than £20 million in 2025-26 to encourage and enable more households and businesses with lower incomes to purchase electric vehicles (EVs) across Scotland. Transport Scotland has committed more than £7 million of funding to enable the partnership.
  • Logistics provider, Wincanton, is bringing 24 electric HGVs into service this year, marking a major step towards its goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2040. The new vehicles are supplied by DAF, Volvo, and Renault, and will operate at more than 40 tonnes. The multimillion-pound project is expected to cut annual CO₂ emissions by around 2,400 tonnes. The trucks will hit UK roads this summer, supported by new charging infrastructure being installed at depots in Greenford, Portbury, Glasgow, and Northamptonshire.
  • Electric vehicle (EV) sales are continuing to grow rapidly in the UK, with new data showing a 28% increase compared to the same time last year. In May alone, 31,519 new EVs were registered, making up nearly 22% of all new car sales. According to research from New AutoMotive, over 175,000 new EVs have been sold so far this year, a 29% rise compared to 2024. Sales of electric vans are up 47.3%, electric motorbikes rose by 10.1%, and electric HGVs increased by 6.7%.
  • The UK government has allocated £1.4bn to support the adoption of electric vehicles across the country, as part of its most recent spending review. The £1.4bn is part of the government’s £2.6bn Clean Energy drive, which will be spent up until 2030. The funds will be used to support the UK’s continued uptake of all-electric cars, vans, and heavy goods vehicles.
  • Millions of drivers without a driveway will be able to charge their electric vehicles more easily as the government is set to roll out thousands more local chargepoints across England. Earlier this month, Future of Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, confirmed that government and industry are expected to install over 100,000 local chargepoints in the coming years – ideal for charging overnight for drivers without access to off-street parking. These come on top of over 80,000 public chargepoints already available in the UK
  • The areas where people can hire an e-scooter or an e-bike as part of the West of England trial scheme is expanding far to the east of Bristol, council chiefs have announced. The scheme is extending into parts of South Gloucestershire to the east of the Avon Ring Road, with more extensions to the north of the M4 coming next month.
  • The next generation of pilots and engineers will benefit from new £750,000 funding to inspire them, support them into jobs and break down barriers to the sector. Organisations can now apply for the latest Reach for the Sky Challenge Fund to help deliver aviation outreach programmes targeting disadvantaged young people, including those from ethnic minorities, who may not have considered a career in the sector before. Funding can be used to deliver a range of programmes from career events, mentorship schemes, interactive demonstrations and educational initiatives with schools and universities.  
  • The London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scrappage scheme has removed more than 53,000 older, more polluting vehicles from the capital’s roads. A new report published by Transport for London confirms the scheme has played a significant role in reducing harmful emissions and improving air quality across the city. Since its launch in January 2023, the scrappage scheme has helped 35,094 cars and 17,964 vans either be scrapped or upgraded to ULEZ-compliant vehicles.
  • There was a “significant” drop in air pollution in Newcastle last year, according to a new report. New data from Newcastle City Council shows a nine per cent fall in nitrogen dioxide levels in the city’s air from 2023 to 2024. Under the Clean Air Zone, which was imposed in response to illegal levels of air pollution in certain Tyneside hotspots, some high-polluting vehicles charged daily tolls of up to £50 for driving through Newcastle city centre.
  • Clean Air Day, the UK’s largest public campaign on air pollution, was celebrated on 19th June. The day itself helped focus attention on air pollution, improve public understanding and increase levels of air pollution busting behaviours, showcase that a cleaner air future is both possible and desirable, and demonstrates large-scale support for cleaner air.
  • The Highland Council has approved the final Traffic Regulation Order to formalise all 20mph speed limit schemes across the Highlands. The decision represents the concluding step in implementing reduced speed limits throughout towns, villages and settlements in the council area. The Scottish Government hopes to set out a clear plan for 20mph by the end of the year. The Highland Council was selected by the Scottish Government as an early adopter for the 20mph rollout, which forms part of the national strategy to introduce consistent speed limits across Scotland by 2025.
  • Transport Scotland has announced a £400,000 skills fund to prepare workforces for the switch to zero emission heavy duty vehicles (HDVs). The Zero Emissions HDV Skills Challenge Fund will provide one year of support to help educate staff on how to run HDV fleets and the charging infrastructure required for their use.
  • Blind and partially sighted people have been invited to take part in a special train journey event in Preston to help boost confidence and independence when travelling by train. The ‘Try a Train’ event, organised by Lancashire Sight Loss Council, was held at Preston Rail Station on Thursday, 5 June. The free-event aimed to provide an accessible and supportive environment for passengers to familiarise themselves with station layouts, board a train, and experience a return journey to Lytham St Anne’s.
  • The Government has promised a review of the legislative framework relating to disabled people’s access to all transport services, following a report by the Transport Committee. The announcement is made in the Department for Transport’s response to the Committee’s report, which was published in March.The report highlighted widespread discrimination due to failures by transport operators to support disabled people to use services, and difficulties that disabled passengers experience when trying to complain or seek redress. The DfT has now said it will ask the independent Law Commission to carry out this review, with the eventual outcome of new “universal and clear” standards being recommended to the Government. 

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