Liverpool City Region mayor, Steve Rotheram, has vowed to create a public transport system ‘better than they’ve got in London’.
Mr Rotheram, who was speaking at a Labour Party conference event, said his plan would see trains, buses and ferries in the region come under one brand, with one ticketing method and with carefully planned and linked timetables and cheaper fares.
He told Labour delegates that he had made Tory Transport Secretary Grant Shapps aware of the proposal, but wasn’t going to wait for permission, the Liverpool Echo reports.
He said: “There’s an old adage that a Scouser can learn to read between the lines before they read words. And I’ve checked my devolution agreement, and it tells me the things that I can do, but nowhere does it tell me the things that I can’t do. So I’m doing, and I’m waiting for somebody to stop me. Don’t ask permission, get on and do it.”
He added: “The public transport system that we will create in the future will be equally as good as anything you’ll find anywhere in Europe and hopefully, certainly better than they’ve got in London.”
“This isn’t just Labour in power, this is socialism in action, it shows you can actually do some wonderful things even with the limited powers given to us by Tory governments.”
