Transport Insights

Labour is to throw the best part of another billion pounds at the Lower Thames Crossing as it looks for a way of funding the mega-project.

Today’s Official Treasury Budget document states:

Funding for the Lower Thames Crossing in 2027-28 and 2028-29 – The government is committing a further £891 million to complete the publicly funded works for the Lower Thames Crossing, as part of its staged approach, after which the private sector will take forward construction and long-term operation.

This is on top of the £840m already allocated for 2025-26 and 2026-27. Ironically, as I have reported, £250m for the current year was allocated in last year’s Budget but kept quiet.

The budget document says the further £891m is “the final tranche of government support to enable the private sector to take forward construction and long-term operation”.

It adds:

The government’s preferred financing option at this stage is the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model. The project will be taken forward on that basis, with formal market engagement launching in 2026.

It looks very much as if ministers are some way from securing finance for building the project and even further from anything actually happening.

In the meantime, they tout it as a “key driver of growth”, without any real evidence that this is true.