Transport links for small towns

Better Connected: A Strategy for Integrated Transport was published in April 2026. The strategy sets out the government’s long term policy position on improving transport connectivity and creating more seamless transport networks.

The strategy includes a commitment to “increased multiyear local funding in England’s towns and cities, providing local leaders with the long-term funding certainty they need to maintain and improve their local transport network.”

The monitoring and evaluation section of the strategy sets out all the commitments government are responsible for delivering, including those which specifically apply to town transport links:

• TD3 - Ensure vision-led principles are adopted at every tier of government

“Work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure vision-led principles are adopted at every tier of government, to shape our new towns and better align the spatial and transport planning systems.”

• DMA3 - Establish a Mass Transit Taskforce

“We will establish a Mass Transit Taskforce to assess the wider economic, spatial and social benefits of integrated mass transit systems, and examine the funding, governance and delivery barriers that can impede their development, in line with the recommendation of the New Towns Taskforce Report on mass transit.”

Except for in London and Manchester, buses linking towns in England are largely deregulated, with routes, frequency and fares being set by private bus operators.

However, the Bus Services Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, intends to give local authorities greater control over their bus services, by streamlining the process for local authority bus franchising and permitting the creation of municipal bus companies.

Franchising could allow local authorities to specify the services they want to run between towns, including routes, fares and vehicle standards. Operators then compete through a tendering process for the right to provide the service, in return for a set fee.

In England, the creation of municipal bus companies by local authorities is permitted under the Section 22 of the Bus Services Act 2025. However, these companies must operate at arm's length from the local authority's central financial and operational processes to ensure fair competition.

In 2025 there were five municipal bus companies operating in England: Blackpool Transport Services Ltd., Ipswich Buses Ltd., Nottingham City Transport Ltd., Reading Buses, and Network Warrington. All other municipal bus companies were sold or merged in the 30 years following the Transport Act 1985, which allowed deregulation and privatisation of the sector.

The Railways Bill 2024-26 was introduced into the House of Commons on 5 November 2025 and. Report stage and third reading are scheduled to take place on 3 June 2026.

The bill would create Great British Railways (GBR). This will bring together into a single organisation most passenger train operators in England and Network Rail, which operates and manages most railway infrastructure in Great Britain including links between towns. The bill would also create a strengthened passenger watchdog and a new regime for access to railway infrastructure which will be operated by GBR.

In England and Wales, the bodies responsible for managing and maintaining public roads are called highway authorities. Highway authorities have a legal duty to maintain the highway under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, including maintenance of roads linking towns.

Apart from the Strategic Road Network in England (managed by National Highways), trunk roads in Wales (managed by Welsh Ministers) and the Transport for London (TfL) Road Network (managed by TfL) highway authorities are local authorities.

In January 2026, the DfT published an interactive map which displays how well each local authority is repairing potholes. The new ratings grade all local authorities as red, amber or green based on current road condition and how effectively they are spending the funding allocated to them.

There are a number of Library dashboards and briefings which provide further information on transport links to small towns:

• Railways Bill 2024-26: Progress of the bill (22 May 2026)
• Active Travel FAQs (13 May 2026)
• Road safety (12 May 2026)
• Condition of roads in rural areas (16 March 2026)
• Impact of planning developments on local transport (23 February 2026)
• Who is responsible for local transport in England? (18 August 2025)
• Buses and Taxis FAQs (15 January 2026)
• Regional Transport Inequality (7 August 2025)
• How accessible are Britain’s railway stations? (3 November 2025)
• 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)
• Planning for nationally significant infrastructure projects (8 July 2024)