Poor links to air and sea ports
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Britain's economic success is threatened by poor road links to air and sea ports, says a report out today. A special fund should be set up by the Government to implement the schemes to "unblock the arteries that sustain continued economic prosperity", said the British Road Federation. The federation also called for a greater proportion of the growing tax taken from transport users to be specifically used to improve the UK's infrastructure.
The report said that UK ports handled 550 million tonnes of freight in 1995 - a 100 million-tonne increase on 1985, as well as 1.6 million goods vehicles, 7.6 million cars and 235,000 buses and coaches. Meanwhile, UK airports handled 115 million passengers in 1995 - 87 per cent more than in 1985, while freight-handling rose 105 per cent, from 802,000 tonnes in 1985 to 1.61 million tonnes in 1995. If Terminal 5 were built at Heathrow airport, London, it added, further improvements would be needed to public transport and roads, over and above those already proposed. There was also need for better links to Manchester airport, which is to get a new runway.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments