Skip to main content

UK government announces US$60.6 billion infrastructure spending

UK prime minister David Cameron and chancellor George Osborne have launched a year of major infrastructure investment, with US$60.6 billion of spending planned across 200 projects. Many of the projects due to start construction in 2014 and 2015 are key transport schemes, ranging across road, rail, local transport and airport infrastructure as well as flood defence schemes. These include the Mersey Gateway Bridge, Sheffield Lower Don Valley and Exeter flood defence schemes, major roads such as the M6 J
April 23, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
UK prime minister David Cameron and chancellor George Osborne have launched a year of major infrastructure investment, with US$60.6 billion of spending planned across 200 projects.

Many of the projects due to start construction in 2014 and 2015 are key transport schemes, ranging across road, rail, local transport and airport infrastructure as well as flood defence schemes.

These include the Mersey Gateway Bridge, Sheffield Lower Don Valley and Exeter flood defence schemes, major roads such as the M6 J10A-13, Nottingham tram extension, Heathrow Terminal 2 upgrade and Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm, which is currently the largest in construction anywhere in Europe.

These projects are part of the US$60.6 billion of planned investment – US$8.4 billion public investment, US$35.3 billion private investment and US$17 billion in joint public and private investment - in infrastructure across the country that could support over 150,000 jobs in construction and many thousands more in other sectors following completion. This includes the start of a US£64 billion programme of rail spending over the next five years.

In addition, there is expected to be further investment of up to US$25 billion in oil and gas this year.

Related Content

  • Pennsylvania transportation cut ‘would jeopardise local jobs’
    August 2, 2013
    Cutting highway and bridge work by 25 per cent in any given year, and then sustaining it in the years ahead, would cost Pennsylvania US$1.25 billion in lost economic activity over a five-year period and put as many as 9,600 jobs permanently at risk, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) chief economist told state lawmakers at a recent hearing. Dr Alison Premo Black was invited to testify before the Pennsylvania Senate Transportation committee based on a report she authored on beh
  • The steep drop in fuel prices and its effect on transportation in India, US and UK
    February 17, 2016
    Industry insight from Steer Davies Gleave notes that increases in oil production and lower projected global demand growth for crude oil have contributed to declines in fuel prices, beginning in June 2014 and falling 70 per cent to the lowest point in January 2016. However, the impact of changing fuel prices is not uniform across transportation modes. For instance, in India, retail fuel prices have declined by only 20-25 per cent as a result of the central government increasing the excise duties to shore
  • Cautious welcome for US transportation bill extension
    July 31, 2015
    The US Senate's approval of the three-month MAP-21 extension and the ongoing work in the US Senate to pass a long-term surface transportation authorisation bill has received a cautious welcome from many US transportation authorities. Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) president and CEO Regina Hopper commented: “While the country is in desperate need of a long-term transportation initiative, we remain hopeful that the three-month extension will provide time for the House and Senat
  • CBI calls for new approach to road funding
    October 11, 2012
    The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) calls for road charging should be introduced on the strategic road network in England. Proposals in the report, Bold Thinking: A model to fund our future roads also suggest that responsibility for the network’s budget should be taken away from the Department for Transport (DfT) and given to an independent regulator. Launching the report, CBI director-general John Cridland said a regulatory asset base (RAB) model was required to address the problem of long-term fu