Paving Over the Tracks: A Better Use of Britain's Railways?

There is strong evidence that allowing some commuter railways to be converted into busways would provide higher capacity at lower cost, reduce fares for passengers and cut subsidies from taxpayers. A related policy of phasing out government support for the railways could save around £6 billion a year. It is estimated that busway fares would be at least 40 per cent cheaper than current rail fares, while on longer journeys all passengers could expect to be seated. In combination with the existing road network, busways would facilitate fast and direct services into city centres from suburbs and villages not currently linked by rail, increasing the choice of routes and reducing overall journey times for many commuters. Express coaches on congestion-free infrastructure could match the train for speed except on the longest journeys, and would also deliver much more frequent services. For a given traffic volume, busways would typically require far less land than rail, both at terminals and along routes. The sale of surplus land would further enhance the commercial case for conversion. The environmental gains could be substantial. High-volume bus/coach transport would appear to be more energy efficient than rail when the full impact of operating the networks is compared. Lower fares and a greater number of direct routes could also reduce car use. In some locations, spare busway capacity could be sold to other road users, diverting traffic from congested urban streets and delivering further environmental benefits.