Is the UK Transport System good enough?

The transport industry is very important to the UK Economy. We need Transport to move goods and services from Firms to customers and employees have to use transport to get to work quickly. If the transport system was non-existent it would be virtually impossible to move things around the country, which would cause high unaffordable prices. Also being an island, means the UK wouldn't be able to participate in lucrative international trade. It is quite disappointing that many transport projects are being postponed by the Government, at a crucial time when vital improvements to the transport System is needed. It’s obvious that our potential economic growth is being jeopardised by the Government’s reluctance to spend, by investing into the county.

I have recently learned that of out of thirteen important, possible UK transport projects potentially less than half will actually go ahead. One of the unfunded projects includes the controversial third runway at Heathrow, which I think the Transport Minister Norman Baker, should really urge the Government to consider, as the airports expansion is imperative to meeting the ever increasing future air travel forecast. Currently Heathrow’s lack of capacity is costing the UK economy £14 Billion in lost trade every single year. It’s important that the UK’s busiest and arguably most important airport can reach a new higher capacity, which will attract investment by airlines, providing jobs for some of the 2.5 million unemployed people in the country. Norman Baker said "Making sure that the country has the transport network it needs to deliver economic growth is a top priority for us". These cutbacks contradict the Transport Minister’s plans, however in saying that, he has successfully secured funding for the high speed 2 rail routes between the UK’s major cities, London, Birmingham and Manchester.

The British chambers of commerce said “While the government has taken important steps to boost infrastructure funding and delivery since the first budget, the updated assessment shows that too many transport projects, which are crucial to business growth, are stuck in the slow lane. We need bold action from the government to improve the UK's transport infrastructure". The BCC director said "This kind of investment is insulated from global uncertainty, and it creates short-term confidence, jobs in the medium term, and improves the UK's competitiveness in the long term".

The Government really has to sought its act out and be decisive especially with the third runway at Heathrow, if it really wants to see the UK economy recover.