Creating a better public transport system will be vital for meeting Labour’s economic goals and its environmental ones; and it would make for a much nicer country, too. Getting there from here, though, will be a long and difficult journey. After 14 years of Tory mismanagement, with growth low and interest rates high, it may be harder to splash the cash than it would have been in the past. The next Labour government should focus on the following.

A full and immediate commitment to reverse Rishi Sunak’s ruinous decision to scrap the northern half of Britain’s largest rail project seems unlikely to get the nod from Rachel Reeves’ Treasury team, but the case for a new line remains as strong as ever. It isn’t just, or even mainly, that it’ll provide faster links between UK cities – it’ll add capacity to an overcrowded system, and by getting fast trains off the slow lines it will allow operators to run more regional and local trains. Without it, lower fares, less crowded trains and significant reductions in the domestic air market will all be impossible.

The UK will build a new north-south line sooner or later, and it would be cheaper, faster and more logical to finish the one that’s already been started rather than beginning........

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