The importance of effective and well managed transport in a constituency the size of Hexham cannot be overstated. Transport is vital to economic and social life, to the health, education and wellbeing of the community. From getting to work and the shops to enabling visits to hospitals, schools and universities - the region requires a transport system that works. One that enables people of all ages and backgrounds to take part in a full social and cultural life – a transport system that is affordable and does the least damage to the environment.

So what is it like to be a road, rail or bus user in the constituency? How do people get along as drivers and passengers by public or private transport? How do pedestrians, wheelchair users and cyclists get by?

The number of cars on the road increases year on year with towns and villages becoming more congested and less attractive, healthy places to live and visit. Wear and tear on roads along with inadequate speeding restrictions makes life difficult for all road users and driving less of an appealing prospect. Increase in traffic pollution along with the use of pavements as parking places make walking difficult – especially for the old and young, people in wheelchairs or pushing child buggies.

An efficient, well organised and affordable public transport system is therefore crucial. Although some bus companies provide a reasonable service many villages and outlying areas are badly served. As bus services are reduced or withdrawn and the trains on northern routes get older, it becomes clearer that public transport has deteriorated markedly since privatisation. Delays, cancellations and non existing services impair efficient travel and reliable connections with buses, trains, metro and trams beyond the constituency.

Labour believes Britain's rail network should be one unified nationalised industry.  The rail infrastructure of the North East needs massive investment to get more of its potential. Labour looks forward to creating a railway that is properly funded, integrated and fit for purpose.

Latest on the Transport campaigns

Labour unveils bold plan to counter 36% decline in local buses under the Conservatives.

Labour unveils bold plan to counter 36% decline in local buses under the Conservatives.

11 December, 2023

Our Parliamentary Candidate Joe Morris has revealed shocking figures that show 35.9% of bus services in Northumberland have been axed under the Conservatives. Despite the Conservatives promising “bus services so frequent you wouldn’t need a timetable” in 2022, the total number of miles driven by buses in Northumberland plummeted by from 13.8 million kilometres driven … Read More

Trick or Treat? Tory U-Turn on ticket office closures

Trick or Treat? Tory U-Turn on ticket office closures

31 October, 2023

A Happy and Spooky Halloween to our members, supporters and readers! The government chose today to announce that it will abandon its controversial plans to close hundreds of train station ticket offices, including Hexham, in a cost saving measure. It was an immensely unpopular policy that saw passengers, unions and disability rights groups united in … Read More

Joe Morris Winning for Hexham!

Joe Morris Winning for Hexham!

17 October, 2023

Yesterday the CLP met in Hexham for the hustings and selection process for the Labour Party’s Parliamentary Candidate for the Hexham Constituency. After listening to the speeches and questions and answers from the two candidates (the third had withdrawn earlier in the day) members voted. The ballots cast in person and the postal votes were … Read More

Tory backtracking and gimmicks

Tory backtracking and gimmicks

4 October, 2023

The Conservative Party Conference in Manchester has surfaced yet again all of the divisions and lurches to the right that characterise Rishi Sunak’s government. The PM himself has engaged in a strange kind of political pantomime over HS2. This High Speed Rail Link, originally intended to link London with Leeds and Manchester via Birmingham, was … Read More

Labour at the Allendale Agricultural Show

Labour at the Allendale Agricultural Show

19 August, 2023

The Allen Valleys Labour Party Supporters’ Group held a Labour Party stall at the Allendale Agricultural Show today. Local members and supporters on the stall chatted with friends, neighbours, local people and visitors to the area about a range of issues including bus services, affordable housing, the cost of living crisis, the water quality in … Read More

Save the ticket office at Hexham Train Station

Save the ticket office at Hexham Train Station

28 July, 2023

Proposed changes to our railways will see many ticket offices closed and reduced staffing at stations. The proposals include closing the ticket offices at Hexham meaning that (with the additional planned closure of Carlisle booking office) the only staffed ticket office on the Tyne Valley Line will be at Newcastle. Train operators have outlined that … Read More

Labour welcomes Gigafactory announcement and promises more

Labour welcomes Gigafactory announcement and promises more

18 July, 2023

Jonathan Reynolds MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, responding to Jaguar Land Rover’s Gigafactory announcement, said: Labour welcomes any investment in British jobs and industry and decisions like these vindicate Labour’s advocacy of an industrial strategy in place of scattergun announcements. In spite of the Government’s cack-handed approach to industry and our economy this shows the … Read More

3 million miles of bus journeys lost in Northumberland

3 million miles of bus journeys lost in Northumberland

26 May, 2023

The Tories’ 13 years in power have seen bus services across the country suffer. In Northumberland alone it has been calculated that over 3 million miles of bus journeys have been lost since 2016 in a sustained decline. In a betrayal of the government’s ‘levelling up promises’ almost one in ten of Britain’s rural bus … Read More

Labour plans bright future for industry

Labour plans bright future for industry

14 May, 2023

Labour has today pledged ‘a bright future’ for British industry under a Labour Government ahead of Keir Starmer’s speech to the British Chambers of Commerce on Wednesday. New analysis shows Labour’s plans to part-finance eight gigafactories will boost jobs in the automotive sector by 50%, creating 80,000 jobs and powering nearly two million electric vehicles. … Read More

Pothole Peril

Pothole Peril

2 May, 2023

Northumberland has the third highest number of potholes of any county in the country. Over 51,000 potholes were recorded in the year 2021/22 according to reported recently in the Northumberland Gazette. Potholes are caused by damage and erosion to road surfaces by heavy traffic, inclement weather and also by sub-standard repairs caused when utilities and … Read More