Urgent action is needed by Government to progress several major transport schemes including Heathrow expansion and Crossrail 2, the chair of the National Infrastructure Commission said this week.

 

Lord Adonis published a list of 12 infrastructure priorities which he says are vital to deliver economic growth and create jobs. He also called for more progress on both High Speed 2 and High Speed 3 and the Silvertown Tunnel in east London.

 

“Brexit and the Hung Parliament must not lead to dither and delay on the key infrastructure challenges facing the country. We need to press on,” Lord Adonis said.

 

He added that all schemes on the Commission’s priority list have all been agreed in principle, but require “decisive action” to get them moving in the new Parliament. “They ought to be at the top of Ministers’ in trays, and they ought not to linger there a day more than necessary.”

 

With regard to Heathrow’s third runway Lord Adonis calls on Government to complete all preparatory work needed for a Parliamentary decision to be taken, and for progress to be made with general aviation policy. He says a timetable for agreeing an updated national aviation strategy should be published no later than September this year, with a vote in the House of Commons on any finalised national policy statement on airports capacity in South East England coming no later than May 2018.

 

In terms of High Speed 2, the Government has been urged to introduce a Hybrid Bill for Phase 2a (Birmingham to Crewe) and to publish a finalised route for Phase 2b (Crewe to Manchester and Birmingham to Leeds) and let major work contracts for the project by the end of July.

 

Government is also encouraged to publish a single integrated plan for a first phase of High Speed 3 across the Pennines, and publish a plan for the funding and phased construction of Crossrail 2 before the end of 2017.

 

On the Silvertown Tunnel, the Government is asked to take a decision on planning permission by the end of October. Lord Adonis also called for progress later this year on the Lower Thames Crossing and for a policy to be agreed with the Mayor of London on developing the next road crossing of the Thames to the east of the capital to support new housing.

 

Other priorities included on the list included the need for acton on renewable energy, decarbonisaton, Hinkley Point C, broadband and mobile communications and water and flood defence.

 

Also endorsing Lord Adonis’s call for action on infrastructure were the British Chambers of Commerce director general Adam Marshall and Confederation of British Industry’s deputy director general Josh Hardie.

 

In response, a Government spokesman said: “We will consider these recommendations and look forward to the publication of the National Infrastructure Commission's long term vision and priorities document later this year.”

 

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan welcomed the backing given to Crossrail 2. “The Commission is right to highlight its significance to the whole country and the need for us to progress this project quickly,” he said.

 

“Not only is Crossrail 2 essential to keep the south of England moving and avoid dangerous levels of overcrowding, it’s also critical to the future of the UK economy as a whole – creating 200,000 homes and 200,000 new jobs.”

 

(Photo: Heathrow Airports Limited)