Transport in the South East

As with most of the rest of England outside of London, buses in the south east are largely deregulated, with routes, frequency and fares being set by private bus operators. The Bus Services Act 2025 gave local authorities greater control over bus services, including powers to introduce franchising.

The south east of England has an extensive rail network. Passenger services are operated by a large number of train operators, including Avanti West Coast, London North Northwestern Railway, Chiltern, Great Western Railway, CrossCountry, South Western Railway, Southern, Thameslink and Southeastern.

The Office of Rail and Road data portal includes data on the performance of train operators.

Significant rail projects in the South East include East-West Rail, a project to reopen the railway line between Oxford and Cambridge, and HS2, a high-speed railway line between London and Birmingham.

National Highways is responsible for operating and maintaining the Strategic Road Network in England (SRN). The Department for Transport has developed an interactive map showing average speed and delay on the SRN.

Local roads are the responsibility of the relevant highway authority. Typically this is the County Council or Unitary Authority.

Significant highway projects include the Lower Thames Crossing, a new tunnel under the River Thames and connected road infrastructure linking Essex and Kent. In March 2025, an application for a development consent order for this project was approved by the Transport Secretary.

The UK’s two busiest airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, are both in the South East. There are proposals to expand both airports.

In October 2025 the government launched a review of the Airports National Policy Statement. This is necessary to allow a decision to be taken on planning applications for Heathrow expansion. In November 2025, the government announced the proposal for a full length third runway at Heathrow put forward by Heathrow Airport Limited as the option to be taken forward.

In September 2025, the Transport Secretary approved Gatwick Airport’s application to use its standby second runway for regular use.

Major ferry routes in the South East include routes linking the Isle of Wight to Southampton, Portsmouth and Lymington, and cross-channel ferries from Dover, Portsmouth and Newhaven to France.

Ferries to the Isle of Wight are operated by private operators Hovertravel, Isle of Wight Ferries (Wightlink) and Red Funnel. Issues relating to cancellations and the cost of fares have been regularly raised in Parliament.

There are a number of Library dashboards and briefings which provide further information on transport in the South East:

• Who is responsible for local transport in England? (18 August 2025)
• Buses and Taxis FAQs (15 January 2026)
• Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [HL] 2024–25 (9 September 2025)
• How accessible are Britain’s railway stations? (3 November 2025)
• Eurostar and potential competitors (9 October 2025)
• When will my local train operator be nationalised? (8 January 2025)
• High Speed Rail 2 – an overview (12 December 2024)
• Constituency data: road traffic collisions and casualties (10 October 2025)
• Potholes and local road maintenance funding (4 April 2025)
• Electric vehicles and infrastructure (20 June 2025)
• Local area data: Electric vehicles and charging points (18 September 2024)
• Heathrow airport expansion: 2025 proposals (26 February 2025)
• Planning for nationally significant infrastructure projects (8 July 2024)