Transport secretary Grant Shapps (pictured) has revealed a raft of improvements to Britain’s transport network, confirming 419 Network Rail projects at a cost of £550m took place over the Easter weekend.
Minister Shapps said that as part of the Northern Powerhouse project, £96m of rail improvements were carried out.
For conference delegates, connectivity and ease of transport consistently tops surveys as being of high importance. Unreliable rail services across the UK has been an issue many convention bureaux, venues and organisers have expressed frustration at repeatedly.
The minister also noted that Highways England delivered upgrades worth £200m, and announced a £2bn transport package, including £1.7bn for local roads. He also placed a greater emphasis on cycling and walking in urban areas, but this is unlikely to impact delegate transportation when events are allowed to run once more.
The announcement comes on the same day as the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, warned the government had until the ‘close of play’, to come up with a rescue package to stop TfL running out of funds.
Mayor Khan, speaking to LBC on 14 May, said TfL was spending £600m a month, but had lost 90% of its normal income from fares, advertising and the Congestion Charge.
Rise in homeworking expected
Addressing a change in working trends, minister Shapps noted that 44% of adults in the UK are working from home, compared with 12% before the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. In response to this, the minister suggested that homeworking would be more prevalent post-Covid-19, and as such the government would be investing in improving broadband across the country.
