The two largest rail contracts awarded during 2019 were the Transpennine route upgrade east of Leeds (£200M from Network Rail in April), followed closely behind by the Barking Riverside railway extension (£196M from Transport for London in January).

On the roads, the largest contract awards were for the Preston Western Distributor Road (£161M from the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership in October) and the East Leeds Orbital Road dual carriageway (£87M from Leeds City Council in January).

Bridge replacement works from the M4 to the M25 completed the top five transport infrastructure contract awards of 2019; commissioned by Highways England at a cost of £80M.

In terms of the future, Barbour ABI chief economist Tom Hall said: “With the new Government expected to turn on the taps in terms of infrastructure spending, the expectation is for an increase compared to past levels, especially in the north of England.

“However the lack of shovel ready projects mean that 2020 may well be a depressed year before the promised expenditure kicks in in future years. Downside risks remain in terms of High Speed 2 downgrading and other pre agreed major projects being de-scoped or delayed.”

(Photograph: R/DV/RS and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence:

R/DV/RS: www.flickr.com/photos/redvers/

Reuse: www.flickr.com/photos/redvers/1250020928/in/photolist-2UsFEY-6fNEBM-28Yk7R5-jXtiMZ-6TLmLK-2UoaWt-ezPWhC-9EVTdy-fJR3xA-24GNRvC-CGuSGi-c8KFSG-25HXXQN-244f28v-QMveQz-PJoCHa-29TdMw-rbRjDV-csihNL-29Tc4s-Zf9Yrc-4rQ8nA-2Uoc5t-2UsCFG-ZvS6qF-21fVJoK-WfcVG3-4rRTmd-YxHbmj-22Ry7up-21inHSo-21JgT8k-DmgcFC-21cye21-29TjwY-EhCVXK-ZZev1T-23k26Yc-RE1J4-8yp9ha-gvU2B-MsS2A-MsS97-2Uobvk-yBFWu-wYEiMe-wYEDdP-xCWcFS-wYEfE2-QUydgQ

Creative Commons Licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/