Overview
- The government launched the independent Mass Transit Taskforce on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, and the group has begun gathering evidence with first recommendations due in about six months.
- The taskforce is chaired by Bridget Rosewell CBE and includes experts from transport, industry, finance and academia with the Urban Transport Group acting as secretariat.
- Its remit is to identify practical reforms to slow planning processes, fragmented funding arrangements and difficulties acquiring land so projects can move from planning into construction more quickly.
- Alongside the taskforce the government has opened a consultation on devolving Transport and Works Act Order powers to mayors, a move local leaders such as West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin have welcomed.
- The announcement builds on recent measures including the 2025 Spending Review, the 2025 Bus Services Act and the April 2026 Better Connected strategy, but it does not alter earlier project schedules such as West Yorkshire’s mass transit timetable that currently points to preparatory works around 2028 and services in the late 2030s.