Chancellor dedicates £100bn to transport and energy

Date: 27/6/2013

The Government is set to spend £100 billion on the UK's transport and energy infrastructure between 2015 and 2020, the Chancellor revealed during yesterday's spending review.

Addressing the House of Commons, George Osborne explained that £28 billion will be dedicated to road improvements, with £10 billion set aside for essential maintenance.

A further £30 billion will be directed towards rail investment, with plans to electrify 850 miles of track in the coming years.

However, the Chancellor was keen to emphasise that projects will not happen overnight, explaining that the Government has a "long-term plan" for upgrading the nation's transport and energy infrastructure.  

Treasury Minister Danny Alexander explained that the proposals are ambitious, but that they will help to build a strong foundation from which the country can progress.

Indeed, Mr Alexander said that the road building scheme will be the largest the country has seen in 40 years.

Yet with no indication as to when the money will be used to kick-start improvement programmes, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said that people want to see work get underway quickly so as that population can reap the benefits of transport upgrades.

"[The Government] should [provide] an immediate boost for housing and transport this year and next," he told ITV's Daybreak. "George Osborne talks about capital spending but he's not actually acting."

Despite the criticism, the funding will eventually see 21,000 miles of roads resurfaced, while new lanes are set to be added to busy stretches of motorway.

A total of £1.5 billion is expected to be spent on upgrading the A14 between Huntingdon and Cambridge, and the project will reportedly be brought forward by two years to 2016.

According to the Treasury Minister, the money being ploughed into the roads will be the equivalent of paying to fill 19 million potholes.

Posted by Mary Treen

Transport News, Transport Consulting News and TRL Ltd