Skip to main content

EEF report calls for more UK road investment

Investment in roads should be the UK’s transport spending priority, according to a report by the EEF. The employers' body's Transport for Growth survey found that 80% of manufacturers see the road network as vital to their business, with 50% revealing that operating costs are increasing substantially due to the condition of the road network. Meanwhile Roger Salomone, the EEF’s head of business environment policy, noted that a mere 6% of firms regard the rail network as a priority, despite the fact investmen
April 8, 2013 Read time: 1 min
Investment in roads should be the UK’s transport spending priority, according to a report by the EEF. The employers' body's Transport for Growth survey found that 80% of manufacturers see the road network as vital to their business, with 50% revealing that operating costs are increasing substantially due to the condition of the road network.

Meanwhile Roger Salomone, the EEF’s head of business environment policy, noted that a mere 6% of firms regard the rail network as a priority, despite the fact investment in this area attracts 30% more government cash. The report is also said to have uncovered ambivalence among manufacturers to the €37.91 billion (£32 billion) High Speed 2 rail scheme.

Related Content

  • “Bold and brave” rallying call to cash-starved UK highway maintenance teams
    July 24, 2012
    UK local authorities and other organisations must be “bold and brave” in their structuring of repair and maintenance works, delegates at a key road engineering conference in Birmingham, central England were told. Speaking at the Developments in Pavement Assessment (DIPA 2012) event Les Hawker, highways manager at Transport for London (TfL), said: “There is no extra money and only 20% of the [Government budget] cuts have taken place so far. Over the next five years the other 80% of cuts will come through. Or
  • OECD countries invest average 1% GDP on road/rail infrastructure
    July 11, 2013
    OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries investment in road, rail and inland waterway infrastructure as a percentage of GDP averages around 1%, according to new research by the International Transport Forum (ITF). The figure is contained in the ITF at the OECD’s 2013 annual statistics update ‘Spending on Transport Infrastructure 1995-2011: Trends, Policies, Data’, which is accompanied by a related database, released today.
  • ALARMing UK road statistics, from the Asphalt Industry Alliance
    March 27, 2017
    Within years, one in six of UK local roads will need repairs or face closure, according to the latest Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance – ALARM - survey. The cumulative effect of an ageing network, decades of underfunding, increased traffic and wetter winters has led to around 17% of all local roads reportedly in poor structural condition, with less than five years of life remaining. The 22nd annual ALARM survey is a comprehensive study into local road maintenance funding and conditions. Loca
  • Transport under the spotlight
    February 13, 2012
    A round-up of some of the major transport-related meetings that have been held in Europe. Compiled by Patrick Smith. Europe has hosted a number of annual events over the last few weeks, where important matters of transport were discussed, reports produced, and decisions taken. ASECAP (the European Association of Tolled Motorways, Bridges and Tunnels Infrastructures Operators); International Transport Forum (ITF); Arena (TRA); International Road Federation (IRF), and the European Construction Industry Federa