Blighted by poor public transport

THE North East has some of the poorest public transport links in the UK - despite residents being more reliant on it, new research shows.

People living in nine ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods across Northumberland, County Durham and Sunderland are disconnected from town and city centres as well as access to essential services due to poor public transport and low car ownership, according to a new report.

Five of the 25 worst connected areas across England are in Northumberland, three in County Durham and one in Sunderland.

Transport services in these areas continue to decline and the report also highlights the difficulties people living in these ‘left behind’ communities face in accessing essential services.

Travel times to A&E hospitals were longer than the England average in 34% of these areas.

The report, called Connecting communities: improving transport to get ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods back on track has been produced by the Campaign for Better Transport with data from Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods.

It highlights how people living in 225 areas, which are predominantly on the outskirts of towns and cities in post-industrial and coastal areas in the North East and Midlands, are more reliant on public transport but have less access to it, compared to other places across England.

Local authority-supported bus services in ‘left behind’ areas declined by 35% over the last six years.

In addition, the report examines the impact of the Beeching cuts to rail services in the 1960s and shows 50% of all rail stations in “left behind” neighbourhoods were closed following the landmark report. 74% have no railway station at all now, compared to 60% pre-1960s.

The data also suggests employment opportunities were limited for people living in “left behind” neighbourhoods due to a lack of good public transport.

Travel times to employment centres were a particular issue in County Durham, Redcar, Cleveland and Northumberland.

To reconnect these places to opportunities and services, the report recommends the government prioritises investment in “left behind” neighbourhoods.