Public transport is the best route to levelling up Britain | Transport policy | The Guardian

Zoë Billingham is right to argue that transport is crucial for improving regional economies (England’s transport system is a creaking misery – and an easy win for Keir Starmer, 3 January). But Labour should be wary of simply endorsing the massively expensive HS2 scheme, which delivers little for deprived areas of the north, as evidenced by its very low benefit-cost ratio. Instead, the party should focus on local improvements to bus services, the lifeblood of many communities, and on tram schemes in urban areas that have demonstrable wider benefits.