We understand the unique challenges faced by public transport entities and the complexities of transport law paired with challenging market conditions, environmental and geopolitical issues which continue to challenge the sector. Our expertise encompasses planning, employment law, commercial contracts, construction and development, sales and purchase agreements, and navigating the complex legal framework surrounding public transport operations.
Whether you’re a public transport authority or a private company operating within the public transport sector, we offer a full legal service focused on achieving your business objectives. Our extensive experience in transportation law, both on land and within the broader transportation sector, ensures we can effectively address your legal needs and keep your public transport operations running smoothly.
On a day to day basis our team regularly advise public transport authorities and companies; transport development projects; and ports, airports and maritime clients.
Our Transport Lawyers provide a wide range of legal services and have a vast wealth of expertise with regard to:
- Supporting on employment matters, such as industrial relationships support, assistance at employment tribunal and a comprehensive employment document library
- Advising on commercial and contractual matters, providing pragmatic, effective and tax efficient ‘floor to ceiling’ legal frameworks.
- Working with construction and development teams with regard to construction, engineering and infrastructure projects, property transactions, land acquisition and planning procedures
- Resolving passenger safety matters, accessibility compliance, licensing and disputes.
Our Experience
For Transport Providers
- Advising a major bus company on a landmark franchising deal for a UK city region
- Developing Statutory Quality Partnership Schemes and Voluntary Partnering Agreements
- Successfully preventing numerous calls for industrial action including through the use of injunctions
- Successfully obtaining an injunction to prevent unlawful picketing
- Successfully defending Employment Tribunal claims, including advocacy, across England, Wales and Scotland
- Successfully representing several operators, including advocacy, at the Employment Appeal Tribunal
- Advising a transport provider on the impacts of the Covid pandemic and the financial support available to its business
- Acting for a public transport provider in all aspects of its property requirements, including:
- The development of a new transport interchange in the heart of a busy town centre working in partnership with the local council and its appointed development partner
- Arrangements for a new station to be incorporated in a wider residential development
- Acquisition of depot facilities
- Disposal of surplus land
- Landlord and tenant matters in respect of its varied retail portfolio
- Assisting with estate management matters in general
- Acting for a large hauliers in respect of:
- Operational land acquisitions
- Disposal of surplus land
- Secured lending arrangements
- Landlord and tenant matters relating to its portfolio of properties
- Assisting with estate management matters in general (including arrangements with solar panels)
For Transport Developments
- Developing and managing infrastructure damage recovery programmes on behalf of a number of major construction highways companies and local authorities
- Advising an airport on a project to build a solar farm on adjacent land to provide electricity both to the airport itself and to the grid
- Acting for a local authority in relation to the property, planning and construction advice needed to enable the carrying out of a circa £150m redevelopment of an East Coast mainline railway station
- Advising an airport operator on major works to upgrade its runway
- Acting for a Local Authority in relation to the acquisition of multiple sites within a town centre to facilitate the construction of new roads, road widening and a new transport interchange and railway station for a light railway operator
- Advising a major regional airport on its development masterplan, including representing it in a judicial challenge to that masterplan
For Ports, Airports and Maritime
- Advising a port authority on its successful bid to host a major O&M facility serving the offshore wind market, and negotiating a long-term service agreement with the operator
- Drafting an entire suite of standard agreements for a container port operation, including contracts with container handling, storage, shunting and redelivery as well as ancillary warehousing and freight services
- Advising an airport on the management of property interests including concession leases, leases of space to airline companies and other areas of the airport estate (airside and landside)
- Drafting and negotiating a long-term, multi-million pound berthing and cargo-handling agreement for major importer and exporter of bulk goods
- Advising a statutory harbour authority on the management of a heritage asset by the establishment of a trust body to own and manage the asset with the support of regional stakeholders on a not-for-profit basis
- Advising a port on series multi-million pound grant agreements from public sector funders in order to finance the remediation and development of an enterprise zone site
- Advising on the management of a port rail network including the implementation of rail access charging and the outsourcing of “person in charge” services
- Advising a harbour authority on the procurement of a new dredging contractor and the terms of appointment
- Advising a Port on the development of a major quayside site for an anchor tenant, including advice on the planning application, carrying out quay remediation works, purchasing a section of river bed and entering an agreement for lease and lease with the tenant
- Advising an airport on the management of its on-site fuel facilities and the indemnities needed from airline customers
- Advising a port authority on a substantial dispute with a major tenant in relation to liability for business rates
- Advising a port authority on the application of its permitted development rights in relation to the construction of a new facility, including advising on general permitted development rights, the port’s specific additional development powers under its own statutes and in relation to a harbour revision order
- Advising an airport on a project to build a solar farm on adjacent land to provide electricity both to the airport itself and to the grid
- Advising a major regional airport on its development masterplan, including representing it in a judicial challenge to that masterplan
- Providing planning advice in relation to the development of a site by a port authority for the storage of hazardous materials
- Advising a port authority on the disposal of a large tenanted industrial estate as part of a rationalisation of assets
- Acting in relation to the lease of a 50-acre quayside site to a major car manufacturer for import of vehicles from Europe, including associated advice linked to a long-term berthing and wharfage agreement
- Advising PD Ports on the acquisition of Groveport
- Advising a regional international airport on all day to day property and estate management requirements including landlord and tenant matters including granting new leases, lease renewals, assignments, licences for alterations, acquisition and disposal work and general estate management
- Advising a regional international airport on the granting of leases of EV charging points for a major international airline
- Advising a port authority in relation to the proper implementation of its statutory powers, including a review of the port’s byelaws and advice on charging structures
- Prosecuting criminal cases against persons whom have breached a port authority’s marine byelaws using prosecutorial powers under the Port’s statutes, including taking cases to court and securing convictions
- Advising a port authority in relation to public procurement exercises under the Utilities Contracts Regulations
- Advising a port authority on legal action being taken to require the removal from the river of an installation that had become an impediment to navigation
- Advising a port on the implementation of a new system for licensing of various port activities in accordance with the Port Services Regulations
- Acting for a statutory port in a multi-million pound High Court dispute with a water utility provider regarding sewerage charges. The case involved arguments as to the proper construction of charging schemes and their applicability to units of occupation/hereditaments constituting the port. The claim settled successfully shortly prior to trial at mediation
- Advising an airport on its long term incentive plan for senior managers
- Acting on a dispute between a port and shipping company arising out allegedly slow discharge rates and the responsibility for the resulting demurrage liability
- Advising a port authority on the substantial remedial works to repair a dilapidated quay and harbour wall, including the appointment of contractors and project managers
- Advising a port on the procurement and construction of a new quayside crane system
- Advising a port operator on the construction of a substantial new quay in a project valued at over £300m
- Advising a port on the demolition of an extensive conveyor network across the port site to make way for new development, including drafting the agreement with the contractor and subsequently enforcing the contract in the face of delay by the contractor
- Advising on the construction of a specialist facility to handle biomass cargoes on a port site
- Advising a large regional airport on data protection compliance, including an audit of data management and retention