Coalition Transport

What the new Government has in store for transport

Following the recent change in Government, it is expected that there will be a major change in transport policy. The coalition-led Government have already announced their rejection of a third runway for Heathrow and a review of the route of the next high speed rail line, while the Queen’s Speech revealed some of the other transport related cost-cutting measures that will take place in order to reduce the national deficit.

The new posts include Philip Hammond as Transport Secretary and Theresa Villiers as Transport Minister, who was shadow transport secretary when in opposition. The PM has also pledged to keep good ministers in their posts for longer, which will hopefully be promising for transport where none of the last four Labour transport secretaries lasted for more than 16 months.

The budget cuts to transport currently amount to £683m with all transport spending decisions made since January are under review. For Manchester, this includes the tram network extension. However, the Government have made a number of promises, which includes offering a national recharging network for electric vehicles, establishing a high speed rail network, continuing support for sustainable travel, introduction of a new system for HGV charging and stopping further funding for new fixed speed cameras.

We’ll keep you updated on the Government’s plan to improve transport and the result of the inevitable cuts to transport schemes.