When all bus transport in Great Britain was deregulated in the 1980s, London was the only Swedish way of buying bus transport. Photo: Ulo Massing.
Re-regulation of bus transport and nationalization of railways awaited the British. When Britain's King Charles III opened the British Parliament on Wednesday, it became clear that major changes to public transport in the country must be implemented. In a government announcement read by the king, the new Labor government wants to allow local and regional authorities to take back control of bus transport in the country and nationalize privatized railway companies.
In addition to London, bus services in the Manchester region have also been competitively procured in recent years. But in other areas it is practically impossible to procure transport in the same way.
Now the Labor government is unveiling a bill called the Better Buses Bill to buy transport everywhere, to give local politicians and authorities more control over transport. The government also wants to support and accelerate such development.
The new government also intends to remove the ban on establishing community-owned bus companies that was in place under the Conservative government.
Privatized rail transport in Great Britain is to be nationalized again. This will be done in a phased manner as the existing concessions of railway companies expire.
1980s
It was only in the 1980s that regular bus services were deregulated in Great Britain. The first to open was long-distance bus transport, and from 1986 all local and regional bus transport in the country was deregulated. London area excluded. As in Sweden, bus transport was purchased there.
Otherwise, it is free for all companies who wish to operate local and regional bus services. The companies themselves had to set ticket prices and supply and compete with each other. However, some unprofitable lines may be subsidized by local authorities after purchase. One of the reasons for the easing of restrictions is that almost all bus transport in the country has lost passengers year-on-year.
After deregulation, only a few community-owned bus companies remained. Lothian Buses in Edinburgh are great. Another is Nottingham City Transport, in which Transdev entered as a minority owner. Reading buses outside London continued to be council owned.
After trips increased, the bus service began to lose customers again. In 2019, there were 1.5 billion fewer bus journeys in England than in 1985, and more than 1,300 bus routes were closed. The decline was accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the Manchester region, politicians responded to the decline by starting to buy transport back into the competition. Now the new British government is opening the door wide to local and regional procurement and for regions and municipalities to run transport themselves.
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