The Government’s consultation on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) includes a headline proposal to support more development of land around train stations in England.
On the face of it, directing growth to well-connected locations makes clear sense.
But could we be at risk of reinforcing existing advantages, allowing the transport-rich to get richer, while communities with weaker provision fall further behind?
In this short thought piece, Jonathan Lloyd shares his reflections on:
- Rail’s modest overall mode share, even around major stations
- The opportunity to use development to unlock transformational change in under-served places
Transport Planning and the Risk of Playing It Safe
The proposed reforms to the NPPF have emphasised directing housing and employment growth towards settlements with strong existing public transport provision.
At first glance, this is logical. If sustainable travel is the goal, growth in well-connected places appears sensible.
But it raises a more difficult question.
Are we at risk of reinforcing existing advantages, allowing the transport-rich to get richer, whilst settlements with strong social infrastructure but weaker transport provision fall further behind?
More Than Just Meeting Demand
Housing and employment growth do more than meet demand.
They sustain communities, supporting schools, healthcare, town centres and the everyday vitality that underpins local life.
Yet many towns and rural settlements have seen decades of decline in public transport, from the Beeching cuts through to more recent reductions and pandemic disruption. In some places, meaningful provision has disappeared altogether.
The result is entrenched car dependency, where mobility becomes a necessity rather than a choice, widening social divides.
A Transformational Opportunity?
A policy framework that prioritises growth only in already well-connected locations risks missing a transformational opportunity.
Targeted investment in under-served settlements could unlock significant change in carbon reduction, accessibility and community resilience.
Improvements to bus services, rail links, service frequency and operating hours can materially alter travel behaviour and help revive local centres.
Rail offers an instructive example. Nationally, rail accounts for only around 2–3% of all trips, although it represents a higher share of total miles travelled.
Keeping a Flexible Vision
Here in the South West, we can see how this plays out in practice.
In Exeter, where Belvedere is based, the areas surrounding Exeter St Davids station record rail commuter mode shares of approximately 2%, closely aligned with the national average.
In Bristol, one of the best-connected rail cities outside London, areas around Temple Meads record rail mode shares of approximately 4–7%. Whilst this is derived from Census data and represents commuting journeys only, this typically makes up the majority of longer-distance trips.
These are among the highest rail mode shares in the region, yet even in these well-served urban centres, rail remains a minority mode overall when compared to private car use.
Rail plays a critical role in longer-distance commuting and inter-city travel. But its everyday mode share, even around major stations, remains modest in absolute terms.
Where Next?
Directing growth to rail-connected settlements may reinforce existing sustainable patterns, but the greatest opportunity for behavioural change may lie in market towns and rural areas where rail use is near zero, not through lack of demand, but lack of provision.
The key question is therefore not just where growth goes, but how the value it creates is used.
Growth location and infrastructure funding cannot be treated as separate policy conversations.
If the draft NPPF concentrates opportunity in rail-connected hubs, then infrastructure reform must ensure that the benefits of that concentration are not spatially contained.
This is not an argument against sustainable, well-connected development.
It is an invitation to think systemically: where growth occurs, how value is captured, and how infrastructure investment can deliver transformational change, not just incremental consolidation.
