Metro mayors to control rail services under unprecedented England devolution plans
Share:
White paper paves way for London-style contactless-payment travel networks and unitary authorities to replace two-tier county and district councils. Mayors of big cities and regions across England will be able to take control of rail services for the first time so they can tailor them to their areas’ economic needs, under devolution plans to be announced by ministers on Monday.
![[The mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/351d549f47d01c9d8533975fa94569bf659d5cec/460_0_4300_5375/master/4300.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
A white paper to be unveiled by the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, will pave the way for metro mayors to take a role in governing, managing, planning and developing the rail network. This will allow them to develop fully integrated contactless travel along the lines of Transport for London.
At the same time the white paper is expected to say that all areas covered by two-tier county and district councils will be asked to submit plans for mergers. This is likely to lead to the scrapping of all districts and the creation of unitary authorities with about 500,000 people in each.
The transport secretary Heidi Alexander told the Observer that a key aim was to promote growth alongside service improvement by devolving power over transport issues to the local level. “These new powers mark a historic shift in how our railways are run – giving local leaders the ability to shape services that truly meet the needs of their communities and drive local growth,” she said.
