Tory conference: Government confirms £25bn for road upgrades

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Strange that the magic money tree is so verdant in the autumn...

Was thinking that myself during the news this evening with the Tories now growing their own as well.

When's the rail announcement due? There's got to be something seriously big planned to appeal to English commuters - funding for NPR, or perhaps a big electrification programme?

Pretty soon I suspect, and it may well be the scrapping of the money pit that HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) has become.

May go some way to freeing up funds to focus on some of the excellent projects listed by others above, particularly in Cornwall where getting around is desperately difficult and poor transport holds back what is already a struggling local economy, which will only get worse after Brexit.

In a wider sense after years of austerity and deficit reduction, it's good to see the belt being loosened a little across the board, not just in transport.

[CyclingSid]

◾Starting construction on the A428 to improve journeys between Cambridge and Milton Keynes

Money might have been better spent completing East-West Rail?

[broadgage]

◾Starting construction on the A428 to improve journeys between Cambridge and Milton Keynes

Money might have been better spent completing East-West Rail?

I agree, but political thinking seems to be in favour of roads rather than railways at present.

[IndustryInsider]

Hasn’t completion of East-West rail been approved?

[paul7575]

Hasn’t completion of East-West rail been approved?

Don’t think so, it’s still awaiting some sort of inspectors report to SofS, for a TWA order? 

(Never sure which procedure things are subject to, it seems to change all the time, the next section east of Bedford is using DCO^▸ (Driver Controlled Operation) procedures...)

Paul

[IndustryInsider]

Ah, yes, so going through the various consent procedures then.  In no way 'under threat' of not happening.

[Robin Summerhill]

When's the rail announcement due? There's got to be something seriously big planned to appeal to English commuters

It won't be the results of the Williams Review, then...

[grahame]

More details on the bus bit........

...

An interisting piece from The Mirror by Gloria De Piero MP^▸ (Member of Parliament)

quoting selectively

I don’t drive, so I have a better insight than some MPs into public transport in our area.

It is literally impossible for me to travel from Eastwood, the town where I live, to nearby areas Kirkby or Sutton in Ashfield after 5.30 in the evening.

I couldn’t get there at all on a Sunday as there is no service.

In the most rural parts of my constituency, such as Selston, the services are even less frequent – which seems so unfair given people are already more isolated than those living in the towns.

Because I work in London for part of the week, I can see first-hand just how much more frequent and impressive bus services in London are, which is just another example of the appalling inequality between the capital and the rest.

I decided to ask the Government about cancellations to see the extent of the difference, and I just wasn’t prepared for the gulf between my two homes: 712 local bus service registrations were cancelled  in the North East traffic area, compared with just 178 in the South Eastern and Metropolitan one.

My constituents have had literally four times as many services cancelled than people in the capital and surrounding area.

she concludes

Warm words from Sajid Javid, without proper funding and better regulation, will not go nearly far enough.

As a bus driver’s son, you would hope he’d know something about that.

[TonyK]

Very true. Buses are a bit too socialist.

[TaplowGreen]

Very true. Buses are a bit too socialist.

I wasn't aware that inanimate objects subscribed to a left wing ideology? (Although it does go some way to explaining the Shadow Cabinet)