The Conservative party has committed to expanding Heathrow as part of its General Election manifesto.
Prime Minister Theresa May today launched her party’s manifesto, entitled Forward, Together, with the promise to continue investing £40 billion into transport improvement in the UK “over the rest of this decade”.
“We are investing to reduce travel time and cost, increase capacity and attract investment here in the UK,” say the Conservatives in their manifesto.
“We will continue our programme of strategic national investments, including High Speed 2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and the expansion of Heathrow airport – and we will ensure that these great projects do as much as possible to develop the skills and careers of British workers.”
The party is also vowing to add new capacity to the UK’s railway system including the launch of new services.
“We will focus on creating extra capacity on the railways, which will ease overcrowding, bring new lines and stations, and improve existing routes – including for freight.
“We will increase services on our main lines and commuter routes, and launch new services to places which are poorly served or host major new housing projects.”
The party said it would also review rail ticketing to remove “complexity and perverse pricing” as well as introducing a passenger ombudsman “to stand up for the interests of rail users suffering a poor deal”.
“We will work with train companies and their employees to agree minimum service levels during periods of industrial dispute – and if we cannot find a voluntary agreement, we will legislate to make this mandatory,” the manifesto adds.
“We will deliver the infrastructure – the road, rail, airports and broadband – that businesses need.”