Kent is one of the best-connected counties in the country, boasting the UK’s only high-speed railway line, vital cross-Channel links and an extensive rail network. But train fares grow ever more expensive, ULEZ expansion has proved controversial and bus cuts have caused anguish for many.

Ahead of the general election, we take a look at what the political parties are promising on transport and hear from passenger groups and would-be MPs about what they see as the priorities for the coming parliament…

When politicians talk about transport, the debate encompasses matters of the most significant strategic national importance all the way down to street-level irritations. From megaprojects like the controversial HS2 to the state of the potholes on our roads, the question of how we get about for work, education and leisure touches on everyone’s lives in one way or another.

Here in Kent, we are relatively fortunate in having a well-developed transport network, which includes major motorway links, a modern, high-speed railway line and cross-Channel connections which play a vital economic role for the whole nation.

But despite this, there remain big questions for whoever takes power after July 4. Will the railways be restructured or renationalised? Will we ever see Eurostar return to Kent stations? And can we keep our roads flowing freely when new EU border rules come into effect in the autumn?

Could the railways be nationalised?

Rob Mansfield is the chairman of Tonbridge Line Commuters, a local rail user group which represents passengers in the west of the county. We asked him what those who travel by train hope to see from the new government following the general election.

“Government should see the railway as part of the bigger picture, rather than just profit/loss on a spreadsheet,” he said.

“We all know the problems of the railway, it costs too much, but the railway doesn’t make any money. We would like a future government to commit to work towards safely reducing the cost of the industry so fares can come down. Work with the train companies, the unions, rail user groups and let’s find a better way.

“Network Rail had predicted that the railway in Kent would reach capacity in 2024. The pandemic has pushed that back a bit, but we would like to see efforts to increase capacity between Tonbridge and Orpington.

“There are a lot of homes set to be built in Kent. We need to think about how people will be able to get to work.”

Mr Mansfield says that travel by train offers three important benefits. Productivity, because people can work during their journeys; capacity, because of the number of journeys it makes possible; and benefit to the environment, as an alternative to journeys by private car. But he believes changes to fares could help encourage more people to use the trains.

He said: “An easy win would be to increase the validity period of the ‘flexi-season tickets’. Currently, it’s eight journeys in 28 days so suits a routine twice-a-week commute. But if you miss one journey, you’re out of pocket. We would like to extend the ticket to 42 days to remove this restriction.”

In the last parliament, the Conservatives put forward plans for a major reorganisation of the railways, which would see a new public body called Great British Railways (GBR) established to end the fragmentation of the industry which emerged from privatisation. In their manifesto for the general election, the Tories recommit themselves to creating GBR, saying this would produce a “revitalised private-public partnership, delivering a modern and innovative railway with reliable services, and simpler tickets”.

Labour promises a similar overhaul, saying that “Great British Railways will deliver a unified system that focuses on reliable, affordable, high-quality, and efficient services”. The big question will be the extent to which Labour plans bring the rail industry back under national ownership.

Already parts of the network, including Southeastern services in Kent, are run by the government’s ‘operator of last resort’, which steps in to replace private sector franchises. It is expected a Labour government would bring more services into public hands as other franchises expire. The Greens explicitly commit to “bring the railways back into public ownership”, while the Liberal Democrats promise to create what they call a ‘Railway Agency’ which would be “a public body which would help to join up the industry”.

Will the £2 bus fare cap stay?

Despite all the attention lavished on the railway, buses remain the true workhorses of the public transport network, particularly outside London. Previous research has found people from the poorest fifth of households catch almost 10 times as many buses as trains, yet buses are often seen as something of an afterthought.

It is certainly far simpler to scrap a bus route than to withdraw a railway service. And Kent, like many parts of the country, has seen its bus network pared back in recent years. KentOnline has reported on the reaction in communities across the county who have been affected by reductions in frequency, lack of reliability of bus services and even the withdrawal of entire routes.

In a briefing note published earlier this year, Kent County Council stated: “During and since the pandemic, the bus industry across the UK has been contending with the combined impacts of reduced bus use, a national driver shortage and increased staff, fuel and maintenance costs. This resulted in a very unsettled period where a number of service changes and withdrawals have been seen as operators were unable to sustain services.

“The industry in Kent and across most of the UK remains deregulated and as such there is nothing that KCC can do to prevent operators from making these commercial decisions.”

Claire Walters, the chief executive of passenger lobby group Bus Users UK, describes the loss of bus services as “devastating” for the communities affected and calls on those setting transport policy to look again at how so-called “socially necessary” routes are defined and funded.

She said: “It's a lifeline for a lot of people and that's why we've been so insistent that the whole definition of ‘socially necessary buses’ and the funding that should follow that needs to be redefined.

“The industry wants it, the passengers need it and we need to have fixed, long-term ring-fenced funding for buses so that everybody will get some kind of service.”

One of the most visible transport policies of the last parliament was the introduction of the £2 bus fare cap in January 2023. The scheme supports bus operators to implement a £2 cap on eligible single tickets for adults, with the aim of supporting passengers amid the cost-of-living crisis and encouraging more people to take the bus.

Ms Walters says the policy has been a success, particularly in giving passengers certainty over what their journeys are going to cost. She says it is important for whoever forms the next government to maintain this certainty by extending the fare cap beyond its current end date at the end of this year.

“It does seem to have encouraged a lot more people [to take the bus], partly from confidence about knowing how much it's going to cost,” Ms Walters said.

“It's been incredibly useful for people to know it's not going to cost you more than that. That means you can budget before you set off.

“I'm hoping that, whoever gets into government, they will continue that even after the end of this year. That's a really important decision for them to take fairly early on, to give confidence to the people in the industry that they're not going to suddenly have to find a brand new way of attracting people to the buses and it's important to try and maintain some sense of consistency for the people who got used to it.”

The Conservatives say they will extend the fare cap in England for the entirety of the next parliament, with the extension funded by savings from reform of the railway which they say will save up to £1.5 billion annually.

Labour’s manifesto makes no mention of the fare cap, perhaps not wanting to draw attention to a broadly popular Tory initiative, while the Liberal Democrats commit to maintaining the cap “while fares are reviewed”. Neither the Greens or Reform specifically address the fare cap in their policy platforms.

Ms Walters says it would be much better if those making decisions on transport policy had a more authentic experience of how those who rely on public transport are impacted by the quality of the services on offer.

She said: “The ‘socially necessary’ side of things needs to be very well understood by all the people making the decisions. I would frankly have anyone making decisions on transport not allowed to use a car to get to their meetings about transport, and at least give them some idea of what everybody else is experiencing.

“If they can't get home at the end of the meeting, because there's no buses, then they might understand why that's inconvenient to a lot of entry-level job people, young people and disabled people. They just get a bit more lived experience of using public transport, not making decisions that affect people when they don't understand what it means.”

Labour’s manifesto argues that “local communities have lost control over their bus routes” and proposes new powers for local authorities to franchise bus services, as well as the lifting of the ban on municipal ownership. Labour says: “This will give local communities in England control over routes and schedules.”

We asked Ms Walters about potential changes to how bus services are operated if, as currently looks likely, Labour forms the next government. She expressed scepticism as to whether changes to the regulatory and legal environment were anywhere near being a priority for bus passengers themselves.

“I don't think the public really gives a stuff about what the regulatory environment is,” she said. “They want buses. They don't really care too much about how it's achieved.

“They want to get a bus to go from A to B. Nobody really cares who runs the buses. Actually, if you ask a lot of people around Kent who they think is in charge of their buses, a lot of the people over 50 will probably still think it's run by the local authority. It's not the biggest concern for them.

“It needs to be accessible and affordable and reliable and punctual, and all the things that come up year on year in every survey about public transport.”

Will Eurostar return to Kent?

Bus cuts are a day-to-day concern for those who rely on public transport to get about, but the loss of Eurostar services from Ashford and Ebbsfleet to destinations in Europe since the start of the pandemic has been a headline-grabbing example of how transport provision in the county has gone backwards in recent times.

These services were cut at the height of the pandemic, when travel was greatly curtailed, but despite the return of international travel once restrictions were lifted, there seems no imminent prospect of our county having its international train links restored.

Diccon Spain, deputy leader of the Labour group on Ashford Borough Council and political liaison officer for the campaign group Bring Back Euro Trains, told KentOnline why the restoration of international rail services – whether operated by Eurostar or a new competitor – is vital for the county.

“It’s all about the economy, basically,” he said. “It’s going to create a lot of jobs and opportunities for people across the whole of the county, we desperately need jobs.

“It affects so many companies that benefit from having that connection to Europe, and then you've got all the companies that rely on those companies. So in a nutshell it's all about the economic boost that we can get from it, the jobs and the opportunities that it's going to create.

“As far as whether Eurostar will return, 'will international services return?' is probably a more appropriate question. At Bring Back Euro Trains we are having a number of interesting and productive conversations and meeting with various top-level people in international rail.

“Based on these meetings we believe that, working together with various key stakeholders and a new government, we should see progress in the short to medium term. At the moment we think a rival competitor is more likely than Eurostar to reinstate services, possibly first in Ashford and then Ebbsfleet, but we will have to see.”

The ‘war on motorists’

Away from public transport, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is making an election pitch squarely aimed at the motorist, pledging to end what it calls “the war on drivers”. Reform’s manifesto says the party would “legislate to ban ULEZ clean air zones and low traffic neighbourhoods” and ensure there are “no more bans on petrol and diesel cars”.

Howard Cox, Reform’s candidate for Dover and Deal, has been a long-time campaigner for motorists, leading the FairFuelUK group which describes itself as “the only true political voice of UK drivers in Westminster”. Mr Cox told KentOnline his party would “treat drivers with the respect they deserve as the commercial and social heartbeat of any thriving economy”.

“Under this fading Tory rule, the surge in anti-driver policies over the past five years will pale compared to the punitive measures we will almost certainly face under a Keir Starmer government, made worse by his likely massive House of Commons majority,” he said.

“He and his green myopics are poised to launch economic raids on drivers, all in the name of their baseless and ill-informed ‘save the planet ideals’. This alarming prospect to our freedom to drive will be catastrophic, particularly for those already struggling, such as poorer families, small businesses, and notably our whole economy. It could lead to job losses and an economic downturn, which should deeply concern us all.

“In stark contrast, Reform UK will champion the UK’s 37 million drivers, offering support and incentives. We will not impose undemocratic market-interfering edicts or bans based on an unsound scaremongering net zero fantasy. Unlike other parties, Reform UK will not treat drivers as pariahs or cash cows.”

The message to the new government is clear. People need access to transport options which do not break the bank and can be relied on to get people where they need to be, when they need to be there.

Although the debate around transport can sometimes appear to pitch one group against another – motorists against cyclists, for instance – there is unanimity around the fact that access to reliable, regular and affordable travel options will bring both economic and social benefits.