UK: The Business Travel Association has published a pre-election wish-list of its long-term infrastructure investment priorities.
For the rail sector, this includes delivering High Speed 2 ‘as currently planned with no reductions in rail links or service provision’, Northern Powerhouse Rail ‘to improve connectivity across the North and better link the region with the Midlands and southeast’, implementing the recommendations of the Williams Review ‘where they will deliver a more efficient and integrated rail network’, ticketing reform to provide ‘greater flexibility, transparency and value for money’, smart ticketing including pay-as-you-go, and the development of light rail ‘where it can provide improved connectivity’.
‘Very often in the UK, governments of both colours have been guilty of taking the easiest option about major infrastructure projects, kicking them down the road or just papering over the cracks’, said BTA CEO Clive Wratten on November 20. ‘We are calling for politicians to be more ambitious, to listen to business people, and to get on and deliver the investment and modernisation our nation needs.’
