By Jason Russell, director, transportation advisory, AtkinsRéalis

The transport sector is no stranger to complexity. Multiple stakeholders, a variety of responsibilities and competing priorities can make delivery challenging. Local government reform intended to simplify governance, improve accountability and enhance service delivery, with devolution passing more powers to local decision makers, is welcome, but it also introduces the potential for greater fragmentation across the network.

In response, new partnership approaches between national bodies and local government are emerging, and in rail, this is reflected in Great British Railways (GBR) being designed as a railway that people can do business with. Developed with support from AtkinsRéalis, a new practitioners’ guide from the Urban Transport Group (UTG) sets out how strong partnerships between Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) and the rail sector can address fragmentation and deliver locally empowered, integrated and place-based transport systems. As well as the rail network, it has a number of lessons that can be applied to other transport modes.

The best-for-project mindset

In the past, there’s been a tendency in the transport industry to look to structural reform as the catalyst for better integration and delivery. But at its core, this change is about aligning the right people early, agreeing shared outcomes and maintaining that collaboration through delivery – a best-for-project mindset. Applied effectively, it helps schemes move faster and ensures investment supports wider goals, including economic growth, modal integration and connectivity. 

Successful partnerships are often simpler in practice than in theory, focused on clear roles and shared outcomes rather than overly complex governance structures. A clear demonstration of this is the redevelopment of Darlington Station, which involved multiple delivery partners, including Tees Valley Combined Authority and Network Rail. Each were responsible for different elements, creating coordination challenges alongside evolving requirements as the scheme progressed.

The project was a good example of the ‘one team’ philosophy, with partners drawing on each other’s strengths and working through issues collectively, showing that even in a complex, split delivery model, strong partnership can overcome those challenges and deliver successfully.

Highways collaboration

In the highways sector, the M5 Junction 10 scheme in Gloucestershire provides a good template. Central to the scheme’s success has been the collaborative partnership between Gloucestershire County Council and National Highways, helping to align outcomes that benefit both the local area and the strategic road network.

Reassuringly, the M5 scheme is not an isolated case. Similar examples are emerging across the UK, reflecting a wider shift in how complex transport schemes are being delivered. Drawing on practical experience from the rail sector, the UTG guidance outlines what has worked in practice rather than theory, while highlighting approaches relevant to other transport modes, where many similar institutional and delivery challenges persist.

For transport leaders, the message is clear: progress does not need to wait for reform, with many of the tools needed to build more effective partnerships already existing. This was reinforced in the recent Civil Engineering Market Study by the Competition and Markets Authority, which emphasised the importance of cross-authority collaboration if we are to improve outcomes in road and rail infrastructure. The priority now is to put them into practice.

To read the UTG’s new guidance, click here 
https://www.urbantransportgroup.org/system/files/general-docs/Delivering%20local%20partnerships%20on%20Englands%20railways%20-%20Issue%201%20-%20Practitioners%20guide_0.pdf

To read the UTG case studies document, click here

https://urbantransportgroup.org/system/files/general-docs/DELIVE~4.PDF

Image: People walking along train platform Credit: Shutterstock