MPs call for joined-up road and rail planning

6 May 14
Planning for passenger and freight transport infrastructure must be better coordinated to ensure they can both support economic growth, MPs said today.

By Richard Johnstone | 7 May 2014

Planning for passenger and freight transport infrastructure must be better coordinated to ensure they can both support economic growth, MPs said today.

Motorway

Publishing reports on England's strategic road network and the national policy statement on national networks, which also include rail, the transport select committee said the systems were currently planned separately.

Effective regulation and long-term funding plans were also essential to ensure investment in the strategic road network can boost prosperity, the MPs concluded, but they did not back the government's reforms to the Highways Agency.

Committee chair Louise Ellman said: ‘The DfT must plan for new road and rail investment by looking at future passenger and freight demand by route or region, not by looking at road or rail in isolation from each other, as is done at the moment.

‘There must also be a more transparent system for road planning as part of a wider national transport strategy. As part of this, the DfT’s National Transport Model should be subjected to proper scrutiny. The department has already conceded that it does not work well for forecasting London traffic and needs to be reviewed.’

Among the recommendations across the two reports is a call for the department to specify the types of transport scheme that are needed in the future, such as improved east-west connectivity on the railways or better road and rail connections to ports and airports.

The department must also address persistent criticisms of its ability to forecast road and rail demand, and be more candid about the adverse impacts of major transport schemes on local areas.

As part of its strategic road network report, the MPs said the case for the government’s reforms to the Highways Agency – which will create a government-owned company – was not convincing.

There was strong support for the plan to introduce five-year funding plans for the agency, which is the operator of strategic roads in England.

However, the committee said it was not necessary to make the changes to the structure of the organisation, which is currently an executive agency of the DfT, to do this.

‘The strategic road network is a crucial part of our national transport system but has suffered from inconsistent funding and policy over the past twenty years,’ Ellman added.

‘If the traffic forecasts are correct, then government will need to increase investment in the road network substantially over the next decade – a period when we also know that tax revenues from fuel duty are bound to decline as vehicles become more fuel efficient.

‘Against that backdrop the committee is calling on all relevant stakeholders to build a new cross-party consensus around how to raise the money required to modernise the UK’s road network.’

Responding to the report, a Department for Transport spokeswoman said the government was tripling the amount of investment in roads to over £3bn a year and will spend £28bn up to 2021.

‘Our reforms to the Highways Agency will make sure this money is spent efficiently by introducing long-term funding and independent scrutiny,’ she added.

‘Alongside our National Policy Statement which supports a balanced package of developments across the road and rail networks – including investment in sustainable transport – our plans will ensure road users get a network that is fit for the 21st century.’

Spacer

CIPFA logo

PF Jobsite logo

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top