Rail transport policy-making in UK Passenger Transport Authority areas

This paper summarises the findings of a research project which analysed the impact of local administrative geography on the development of local rail transport policies in Merseyside and Strathclyde, two of the UK’s Passenger Transport Authority (PTA) areas, between 1986 and 1996. The ways in which statutory local authorities and other public, private and voluntary sector organisations engaged in the policy process are illustrated in order to explain the development of specific policies. The differing spatial structures of the city-regional and joint board PTAs in existence over this period are shown to profoundly influence the aspirations of each PTA, the mechanisms of policy-making and the type of rail transport investment projects promoted. The implications of these differences for the accountability of each structure of local governance are outlined.