A slate of long-awaited transport projects has been given the green light again after almost a year on hold.
Last year, Labour put several major road and rail projects outside London and the South East on hold pending a review, saying the previous Conservative government had promised to deliver some projects without putting enough money forward.
Then-transport secretary Louise Haigh accused the Tories of leaving a £2.9 billion gap between what it had announced and what it had funded.
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Several of the projects have now been given the go ahead, backed by £92 billion from last month’s spending review.
The Government has decided to press on with five major road schemes, five rail projects and 28 smaller road schemes, saying they will cut journey times, ease congestion, create jobs and support new housing.
Most of the upgrades have been in the works for several years, and many have already received planning permission.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “Transport is the backbone of our economy, which is why we are giving them the record funding boost they need, putting taxpayers’ money where it matters most and making everyday journeys easier.
“With over £92 billion investment, including the biggest ever boost for city regions in the North and Midlands, we’re delivering the schemes that fast-track economic growth and jobs, connect communities, and will help us build 1.5 million new homes, as we deliver our plan for change.”
Preparatory work for some of the projects has continued despite the pause, but Tuesday’s announcement means they can now proceed in full.
For some projects, supporters will hope the backing marks the final stage of a long-running process.
One, a widening of the A66 Trans-Pennine route, was first proposed in 2016, while the reopening of the railway between Portishead and Bristol has been the subject of a 25-year campaign.
The A66 upgrade was given planning permission in March 2024, but was delayed by an ultimately unsuccessful legal challenge and put on hold by the new Government’s review. Construction is now expected to start this winter.
The Portishead line, reopening a railway that was closed in the 1960s, was also thrown into question by the review, but then West of England mayor Dan Norris announced funding had been secured in February this year.
On Tuesday, the Government announced it would invest another £27 million in the project, which it said would “connect an additional 50,000 people” and support “a significant new housing development”.
The Government has also confirmed its commitment to build new stations at Wellington and Cullompton in the South West and Haxby in Yorkshire, which had all been part of the Conservatives’ Restoring Your Railway project that was scrapped when Labour came to power.
Funding for the stations, along with the Midlands Rail Hub plan to add 300 trains a day to the West Midlands network, was previously announced at last month’s spending review..
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the investments were “long overdue” and would “transform local communities and improve living standards across the country”.
But the Conservatives accused the Government of using the announcement as a “distraction tactic”.
Shadow transport secretary Gareth Bacon said: “Labour are re-announcing projects that are already under way in order to distract from their failing economic strategy of high tax and high borrowing. They just don’t have a plan.
“Rachel Reeves’s catastrophic economic mismanagement and Keir Starmer’s total inability to control his own party has led to a string of unfunded U-turns, meaning that more tax rises are coming.”
