The Midlands Rail Hub is a long-touted project of vital importance to the future of rail travel in the city and wider region. 🧵

The front page story of Birmingham Mail is about a driver who exceeded the 50mph speed limit in a variable speed limit zone.

Transport YIMBYism would probably be easier in this city and region if we had a map of where we're trying to get to for and could believe in its delivery. This was supposed to come from the Birmingham Transport Plan Delivery Plan, which never materialised. Could it come from Local Transport Plan 5?

Martin Price@mrmjprice.bsky.social · 21h ago

Glad to see pragmatic response prompts from @birminghamfoe.bsky.social for the Midlands Rail Hub consultation - a project which will have huge benefits for Birmingham, regional and national rail travel. Some businesses appear to be contributing… less constructive thoughts.

Glad to see pragmatic response prompts from @birminghamfoe.bsky.social for the Midlands Rail Hub consultation - a project which will have huge benefits for Birmingham, regional and national rail travel. Some businesses appear to be contributing… less constructive thoughts.

What happened during that spike in the morning? 👀

Birmingham City Centre Cycling Counters@brumcitycycling.bsky.social · 4d ago

Yesterday, 1208 trips were made via Hill Street in Birmingham City Centre. 580 headed towards Victoria Square, 628 headed towards Southside.

The tax retention news is so big it has overshadowed some of chunky stuff in the press release that complements it and fills out the devolution strategy pursued by the new PM. Some initial reactions by me and some @centreforcities.bsky.social thinking below to get you started 👇

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 6d ago

This is a great move:

“Cars are the most absurd means of transport in a city,” [says Jean-Louis Missika, Paris’s deputy mayor for urbanisation]. “They are parked 95% of the time. It takes two tonnes to move someone who weighs 70kg. And the denser the city, the more absurd it is.” www.ft.com/content/882e...

How Paris beat the car

Though chaotic, the city’s transition has become a global role model

ft.com

That's half a tram line or the region's entire local cycling and walking programme and then some *every year*.

Andy Burnham to give regional mayors share of income tax

The prime minister says the move will give power to "every postcode" but critics say the plans lack detail.

bbc.co.uk

Spent some of this afternoon in Birmingham's archives looking through boxes of transport items and got thoroughly depressed that we're still redoing business cases for routes the region wanted to build in the late 80s.

"Nobody voted for this" is a trope used across the political spectrum across most policy. Notwithstanding the need to do some studies at the junctions for some sequencing adjustments, it has led my curious mind to the question - well, what did people vote for in Westminster, Manchester and Glasgow?

Modal filter: where people give feedback about transport through the lens of their own modes and lived experience, both of which are influenced by historical transport investment: 20th century car dominance.

The leading story vs. the leading photo is quite a combination.

Andy Gibson (@AndyGibsonTV) / InformingBritain.com@informingbritain.com · 2w ago

"NET ZERO 'RISKS BLACKOUTS'" #BenEllery / @EmilyGosden.bsky.social / #JulietSamuel for @TheTimes.com A whistleblower warns that #UnitedKingdom's #NetZero push risks blackouts as energy officials fly blind on supply and demand. #TheTimesSaturday #TomorrowsPapersToday

Hey! Would you like good news? Remember how the police seized and crushed a legal Tern cargo bike by mistake? Well charges against rider dropped! Compensation for crushed bike! And dodgy “test” used to detect illegal “e-bikes” dropped! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

West Midlands Police to change testing after destroying legal e-bike

West Midlands Police admit their method to test the speed of the e-bike was flawed.

bbc.co.uk

Next up: guaranteed funding for cross-city bus priority, so you know that your bus will take half-an-hour, not somewhere between 30 and 90 minutes.

Richard Parker@richardparkerwm.bsky.social · 2w ago

This is huge, and will help thousands across our region with the cost-of-living!

Look mum, a bus stop sign I designed the template for, is being used as as a cover by The Guardian and being posted by the Transport Secretary.

Heidi Alexander MP@heidialexander.bsky.social · 2w ago

We're cutting bus fares by a third for millions of passengers, making your everyday journeys a little bit easier. 🚌 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

So... GDS to DCMS but AI to Cabinet Office, despite GDS continuing to underpin all of government and its Customer First programme embedded within DfT/DVLA and going after other areas of government... 🤔

Richard Hebditch@richard.hebditch.org · 2w ago

Rewiring the state - Number 10 North takes over devolution from MHCLG & "Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet (OPMC), which will house No 10, No 10 North and teams within the Cabinet Office directly serving the Prime Minister and Cabinet" questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...

If I may be serious for a second, we probably need to perish the notion of silly season, given the news and announcement vacuum has typically been something of a tinderbox for far right bollocks to spark up.

Owen Garling@ojgarling.bsky.social · 2w ago

I think everyone on here could really do with some proper silly season stories. How are the misshapen veg coming along? Any Big Cats seen in the countryside?

This research suggests that consumers would be willing to pay more with a slower service time if it means better safety for Deliveroo riders. I wonder if this translates to e.g. Uber rides. Not that you should have to pay extra for the basic expectation of safety!

The hidden cost of fast delivery: Consumer willingness to trade delivery time and cost for food delivery rider safety

The rapid growth of online food delivery services has transformed how consumers access meals in urban areas, offering the convenience of doorstep deli…

sciencedirect.com

Hooray, £45 saved! But when I start a new job, I’ll need a £102 passport to easily prove my right to work. Nice one.

Andy Burnham to remove VAT from household electricity bills - live updates

The rate will be cut from 5% to 0% in October. On Monday, the new prime minister pledged to provide "breathing space" for people struggling with the cost of living.

bbc.co.uk

Thank you for the coverage @drdavidgk.bsky.social!

Birmingham man's legal e-bike seized and destroyed by police in error

The BBC finds the bike was legal and supplied as part of a scheme to reduce pollution in the city.

bbc.co.uk

BIST-Oh shit now this department can’t deliver anything as they have to piss about with a big restructure

Politics UK@politicsuk.com · 2w ago

🚨 UPDATE: Andy Burnham has scrapped the Department for Science, Technology and Innovation It has been merged into Business and Trade, which will be renamed as the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade

Wild that a report that effectively says they haven't yet spent around half of CRSTS gets through with effectively no scrutiny. One board member who doesn't understand funding and the Chair asking for a report on underspend in future. Looks like all schemes contractually committed can overrun.

Investment Board - Monday 20 July 2026, 10:00am - Start video at 0:14:32 - WMCA - Webcasting

Investment Board - Monday 20 July 2026, 10:00am - Start video at 0:14:32 - WMCA - Webcasting

wmca.public-i.tv

There’s a lot of space for greenery on our streets if you just reallocate a bit from cars.

Hoping that the principle of Digital ID - not needing to spend hours every year pissing about with random logins or digging out my passport and driving licence just to achieve basic tasks - survives whatever the Digital ID chop looks like.

The AI-ification of the Bournville notice boards begins in earnest. Let’s check back in a year.

Sigh

Andy Burnham to scrap digital ID to focus on 'helping with cost of living'

A spokesperson for the incoming prime minister says his Government would “put its focus where people need it right now”.

bbc.co.uk

Meanwhile in the West Midlands… speeding up 12 bus routes, 10 had delivery funding paused for other projects but it turns out we’ve got loads of money left to spend, and the projects don’t appear to have guaranteed funding, while bus franchising (and significantly higher expectations) looms.

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 3w ago

New York City should have the best buses in the world. That’s our goal. But the first step is incredibly important: hearing from New Yorkers in the neighborhoods where these big infrastructure changes will be made.

Interesting. Would probably swap the £1 cap for £1.50 with two-hour validity across all operators. And not sure we need a subscription-based rail + bus ticket, rather multimodal (cross-operator) capping, probably at a more reasonable level than we'll end up getting.

New Economics Foundation@neweconomics.bsky.social · 3w ago

🚍New report out today! As part of measures to tackle the cost of living, the new government should take action to cut the cost of transport - including introducing free travel for under 25s, a £1 bus fare cap and a new national railcard.

It will forever annoy me that my estate was approved *just* before LTN1/20 and ATE's establishment. The estate is 960m from the high street, yet most people drive as the road is too busy dangerous.

Sorry, doesn’t require intervention at this time!