Transforming the UK's road and rail networks
Source: gov.uk (2025-07-07)

Outlines the 5 strategic road schemes and 5 key rail upgrades that will support 42,000 jobs and pave the way for 1.5 million new UK homes.

I’d like to make a statement on how we are reconnecting Britain. Today (8 July 2025), I am announcing one of the most transformative investments for our transport network in a generation. We’re greenlighting over 50 road and rail projects, touching every corner of the country– from more rail capacity in Oxford and better roads in Newcastle, to new stations in Devon. This is what delivering on our Plan for Change (https://www.gov.uk/missions) looks like.

Interactive map of road and rail investment schemes (https://maps.dft.gov.uk/road-and-rail-investment-spending-review-2025/index.html)

List of road and rail investment schemes (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/green-light-for-over-50-road-and-rail-upgrades-supporting-over-39000-new-homes-and-42000-jobs#list-of-road-and-rail-investment-schemes)

Green light for over 50 road and rail upgrades supporting over 39,000 new homes and 42,000 jobs (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/green-light-for-over-50-road-and-rail-upgrades-supporting-over-39000-new-homes-and-42000-jobs) press release, 8 July 2025

We said we would raise living standards, so today’s announcement is taking the brakes off growth – supporting 42,000 new jobs and slashing journey times. We said we’d build 1.5 million new homes, so we’re directly supporting the construction of 39,000 new properties, showing how transport can lift up communities and improve lives. And we said we’d accelerate to net zero, so we’ll not only make our roads safer and less congested, we’ll not only continue the EV transition in a pragmatic way.

But we’ll get more people on public transport – backing our railways with new links and more electrified track. More Jobs. New housing. Better journeys. These are the people’s priorities, Mr Speaker, and they’re mine too.

None of this was inevitable. We’re here because this government is restoring stability to our finances and honesty to our politics. Thanks to the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-infrastructure-a-10-year-strategy), we’re committing at least £725 billion for infrastructure over the next decade.

Restoring confidence, driving growth and transforming how projects are delivered. And, through phase 2 of the Spending Review, £92 billion will be spent to get Britain moving.

Madam Deputy Speaker, we’ve already confirmed where some of this money is going. Billions of pounds for upgrades on the TransPennine Route – the backbone of our Northern cities, a commitment to build the East-West Line to Cambridge, the biggest ever investment in local transport across the Midlands and the North and over £2 billion to enable Transport for London (TfL) to continue with the purchase of new Piccadilly, Bakerloo and DLR trains. And, as the Chancellor said last month, we will be confirming plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail soon.

However, today, I can provide more detail on how we’ll use our Spending Review settlement. Let me start with our main highways. Madam Deputy Speaker, it should be no surprise when I say the Strategic Road Network is one of our most important national assets. Carrying one third of all traffic, two thirds of our freight, generating £400 billion for our economy. These essential arteries sustain our businesses, our trade, and our very way of life. Yet with much of the network built in the 1970’s and 1980’s, not only are many routes in need of renewal. But there are pinch points where nothing short of new infrastructure will do.

So, after careful consideration, I can announce we will fund 5 more strategic road enhancement projects. That starts with a continuous dual carriageway on the A66 across the Pennines – strengthening road safety, cutting journey times by 12 minutes, and getting more people to the region’s stunning National Parks. We’re also linking up the M54 and M6 and expanding capacity on the A38 in Derby. That means better links for thousands of workers in the Midlands, as well as supporting over 15,000 new homes across Derby. And we’ve also set aside funding for the A46 Newark Bypass scheme and the Simister Island interchange in Greater Manchester, with both schemes now awaiting the outcome of the live planning process.

Madam Deputy Speaker, 97% of trips directly depend on our road network – from cycling to bus, walking to cars – you name it, our roads carry it. That’s why we’re investing record funding to fill an extra 7 million potholes this year and it’s why we extended the temporary cut in fuel duty at the last Budget. It’s also why this government will always be on the side of the British people who depend on our roads day in day out. Today, we’re going even further. I have approved full business cases on the Middlewich Eastern Bypass and the A382 from Drumbridges to Newton Abbot, meaning these can now enter construction. I can also announce we have secured funding to continue to take forward 28 schemes, from Somerset to Skipton and Newcastle to North Hykeham.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I’ve spoken about the dozens of schemes that will transform road journeys across the country. Decisions we’ve made to prioritise those essential trips to work, to the shops, to see loved ones and to keep our vital freight sector moving. Now, let me turn to the railway – and the projects that will deliver more reliable journeys for passengers. We know rail investment outside London is well overdue. The Spending Review ramped up funding for the TransPennine Route Upgrade and East West Rail. And the new Midlands Rail Hub will see the region’s most ambitious rail improvement scheme to date. Thanks to government funding, huge numbers of additional trains and 20 million extra seats could be added to services in and out of Birmingham each year. But this isn’t just about delivering big-ticket projects.

I can, today, announce new rail stations at Wellington and Cullompton in the South West, which will bring significant benefits to local communities. Following representations from Mayor David Skaith and the honourable member for York Outer, I have also decided to fund the reopening of Haxby Station on the York to Scarborough line. We’ll replace the aged signalling system on the Tyne and Wear Metro – securing the benefits of that service for the next generation. And I have listened carefully to Mayor Helen Godwin and the HM for North Somerset about the need to reopen the Portishead Line, and today, I can confirm we will do just that, connecting 50,000 additional people to the network.

Madam Deputy Speaker, make no mistake: these, and other projects, will not just improve the passenger experience but are downpayments on future growth, better connectivity, and the new jobs and homes this government has promised.

Now, I know honourable members will have specific schemes in their constituencies which are at the early stages, or which haven’t been funded in this SR period, or which were cancelled, but not announced, by the previous government.

Let me reassure colleagues that many of these are worthy projects and we will keep them under review. The soon-to-be-published infrastructure pipeline will set out our longer-term outlook and give colleagues the transparency which, for years, I know they’ve sorely lacked.

Madam Deputy Speaker, it’s important to set the context. We know critical infrastructure projects were promised. We know expectations were raised. And, sadly, we know there was no plan to pay for them. Indeed, schemes that formed part of the previous government’s major road network programme, all of which were meant to be in construction by now, have not progressed as expected. Almost half are yet to reach the outline business case stage, despite being in the programme for 6 years. Years of dither and delay wasted everyone’s time and left communities in limbo. This, I must say, is the tragic legacy of the farcical ‘Network North’ announcement made by the previous Prime Minister.

So it falls to this government to make the difficult, but sensible, choices around future transport projects. To level with the British public. To provide much-needed certainty. And to govern with integrity. Only those projects that are fully costed, affordable and deliver a return on taxpayers’ money will be given the green light under my watch. That means no more blackholes and no more busted budgets. No more promising the public the moon on a stick. Those days are over.

I have therefore taken the difficult decision, on the Strategic Road Network, not to progress the A12 widening scheme. This and dualing the A66 were 2 of the most expensive strategic schemes on the table, and it was impossible to continue with both. We have also decided not to progress the A47 Wansford to Sutton scheme. We are already investing over £500 million on improvements to the A47 corridor, with work to dual sections in Norfolk already underway. But it’s just not feasible to support further investment at this time. I understand some communities will feel frustrated. But by taking this decision, we’re rebalancing funds towards those areas that, for too long, haven’t had the infrastructure investment they’ve deserved. The North and Midlands will now get a higher proportion of strategic road spend than we’ve seen in the last 5 years.

I believe that’s the right and fair thing to do.

Finally, Mr Speaker, the previous government spent years developing plans for large local schemes and major road network projects that were neither affordable nor got off the ground. We can’t go on like this. While I have today written to colleagues and councils about 28 schemes, which we will fund, many others now need to be reviewed. My officials will work with councils on which schemes to prioritise and I will update the House on next steps once those discussions have taken place.

Madam Deputy Speaker, we are making a once-in-a-generation commitment to get Britain moving. Better roads and new rail links will raise living standards, increase opportunity and deliver on our Plan for Change. Throughout, we will always put the British people first. That means being honest about the inevitable trade-offs. It means understanding that financial stability remains the bedrock of economic growth. And it means ensuring we always deliver the best value for taxpayers’ money. I truly believe talent exists right across this country, yet poor connectivity is a drag on opportunity and places a ceiling on people’s aspirations. That changes now. We will reconnect Britain. And we will deliver the world class transport infrastructure this country needs. That’s my mission. And I commend this statement to the House.