Multi-billion-pound road and railway investment to put nation on path to recovery

Thursday, 14 May 2020 15:00

Investment across road and rail will support the country’s economic recovery and continue to level-up infrastructure £1.7bn to improve journeys for cyclists, pedestrians and drivers across England through repairs to local roads Fast tracked construction works worth £175m will ensure networks get vital repairs while fewer passengers are using transport system Plans to lock in environmental benefits seen...Request free trial

Investment across road and rail will support the country’s economic recovery and continue to level-up infrastructure
£1.7bn to improve journeys for cyclists, pedestrians and drivers across England through repairs to local roads
Fast tracked construction works worth £175m will ensure networks get vital repairs while fewer passengers are using transport system
Plans to lock in environmental benefits seen during lockdown with vision to boost England’s charging infrastructure for electric vehicles over next decade

Journeys on local roads, railways and motorways will be smoother and safer thanks to a multi-billion-pound infrastructure package, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will announce today.

Hundreds-of-millions-of-pounds worth of upgrades have already been made to the nation’s road and rail networks during the lockdown period with more planned over the coming weeks and months.

Drivers and cyclists beginning to return to England’s streets will benefit from a £1.7bn Transport Infrastructure Investment Fund to improve roads, repair bridges and fill in millions of potholes.

The package will target around 11million nuisance potholes – enough to build a road stretching a third of the way around the Earth. It will also see smaller improvements completed to upgrade local networks, such as enhancing road safety at key locations, the installation of priority bus lanes, and the creation of projects to help lock in improvements in air quality experienced during lockdown.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

“There has been a monumental effort in every corner of the country to slow the spread of the virus and protect our NHS. However, the battle is not over yet and we urge everyone to keep up the good work and only travel when they need to.

“To help those who do have to use public transport or get out on the roads to do their jobs, we’ve been accelerating infrastructure upgrades to make sure that, as we gradually reopen our society, everyone can benefit from smoother and safer journeys with better connections for our future.”

On top of this fund, the government is also accelerating more than £175m worth of work during the quieter period across our road and rail network while people follow the guidance to avoid unnecessary travel.

It comes after the Transport Secretary last week announced £2bn in funding to boost more sustainable greener travel and encourage more people to begin cycling and walking.

Major improvement works have already taken place over the past month. England’s motorways and major A-roads benefitted from £200m of work carried out in April while some £550m of improvements and maintenance were also completed on the rail network.

In addition, Sir Peter Hendy CBE, chairman of Network Rail, has been appointed by the Transport Secretary to oversee how operators can best act in line with the government's guidance to keep passengers safe. As part of this, rail operators have been asked to deliver regular station speaker announcements, clear signage and floor markings, while ensuring extra staff are available to manage crowding and provide guidance to passengers. Enhanced cleaning regimes on trains and at stations have also been introduced by operators and Network Rail.

As more people return to their cars, it is critical this is done in a sustainable way. The government has therefore today outlined its vision to supercharge the electric car chargepoint network by boosting the numbers of rapid chargepoints across England’s strategic road network over the next decade.

On England's motorways and major A roads, drivers are currently never more than 25 miles away from a rapid chargepoint. Today’s vision aims to ensure every motorway service area will have a minimum of six ultra-rapid chargepoints, with some larger sites having as many as 10-12, by 2023. This means that many drivers will be able to charge their cars in around 15 minutes – three times faster than they can currently and in the same time it takes to have a rest break, or grab food for their journey.

It will also allow people to charge their electric vehicles quickly and easily using their debit or credit card and access information on available chargepoints and pricing information during their journey.

Notes to editors

Construction work has been permitted throughout lockdown, providing employers follow Public Health England guidance on social distancing – and is now being actively encouraged by the Government as we enter the next phase of our response to the virus.
People are reminded to stay at home as much as possible, and to walk, cycle or drive instead of taking public transport whenever possible if making an essential journey.

Highways

Local highway authorities will benefit from more than £1.7bn to repair damaged roads and bridges, which includes £500m to target almost 11million nuisance potholes. Over £250 million of this funding will also allow authorities to undertake small scale transport improvements, such as road safety measures and public transport enhancements.  
The allocation of the funding will also reduce pressure on local authority staff by removing the need to bid for funding, dividing this up based on the assets for which local highway authorities are responsible for.
To further support authorities in this challenging time, the Government has also published new guidance to help encourage innovation and improve the way utility street works are carried out. 
The new technical specification provides options for alternative materials that can be used to help overcome supply shortages in some areas so that vital street works can continue, for example, to install broadband.
Over £200m of construction work has taken place across the Strategic Road Network in April alone, helping to keep journeys running smoothly.
Last week also saw the opening of the £1.5bn A14 upgrade eight months early, meaning up to 85,000 drivers can now cut up to 20 minutes from their journeys each day.

Railways work

The £550m spent on rail improvements in April is for Capital Expenditure in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), covering Renewals and Enhancements, and maintenance activities, including all purchase of plant and machinery, purchase of materials, subcontractor costs involved in construction and direct staff costs incurred. Of this spend, £96m was spent in the Northern Powerhouse Region.

Upgrades have taken advantage of the quieter transport networks, with a number of major maintenance and renewals works accelerated including £96m of works already accelerated with plans for another £50m.

This is in addition to the Bank Holiday works on rail, which, on top of the c£80m spent on the Easter Bank Holiday, saw around 500 sites and c£90m spent on improvements last weekend for the VE Day bank holiday, and another 500 sites and c£90m planned for the late May Bank Holiday.

Chargepoints

Working together with motorway service area operators ‘Project Rapid’ will encourage more people to switch to green transport and drive the uptake of zero emission vehicles by reducing range-anxiety concerns for drivers on long distance journeys.