Transport Insights

The transport stories you won't see in the industry-friendly media

Author

Chris Ames

  • Working hard to work out the problem

    It’s not clear whether National Highways is any closer to solving the drainage defect that has compromised the new concrete central barrier on the M1 between junctions 12 and 13.

    The problem first emerged in January and the roadworks, which were officially scheduled to finish this week, have been extended for at least another week.

    The story appears to be the same as when the BBC reported it two weeks ago.

    Image: Tony Fisher/BBC

    National Highways told me today that the barrier supports have been weakened by the drainage defect and that the hard shoulder remains open as a live lane to maintain three lanes open in both directions, with reduced speed limits for safety reasons.

    A spokesperson said:

    Our engineers have been working hard to identify the cause of a drainage defect in the central reservation. We continue to assess the situation and are planning the repairs needed. We would like to thank drivers for their continued patience.

    Meanwhile, an answer from transport minister Lilian Greenwood to a parliamentary question from shadow transport secretary Richard Holden highlights that there are stretches of the strategic road network with wire rope barrier of unknown age:

    National Highways has approximately 143 miles of wire rope safety barrier on its network. For context, the total length of Vehicle Restraint Systems (VRS) on National Highways’ network is approximately 6462 miles, of which wire rope safety barrier is one type. National Highways does not hold the data on when all wire rope safety barriers were installed.

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  • Greenwood parks pavement parking ban…again

    If you detected some reluctance from successive governments to tackle drivers who park on footways, the latest written parliamentary answers on the subject show that ministers are in no hurry to give councils the powers they promised them in January.

    Transport minister Lilian Greenwood was asked by fellow Labour MP Peter Dowd what the government’s proposed timeline is. She replied:

    On 8 January 2026, I announced the publication of the government’s formal response to the 2020 public consultation ‘Pavement parking: options for change’ which sets out what the government plans to do to tackle pavement parking. In the first instance we plan to give local authorities powers before the end of this year to issue Penalty Charge Notices for vehicles parked in a way that unnecessarily obstructs the pavement. The Department will engage with local authorities on the detail of these plans.

    As I reported at the time, the government said it would “create powers to enable local transport authorities to prohibit pavement parking in their areas” and in the meantime “enable local authorities to enforce against ‘unnecessary obstruction’ of the pavement”.

    At that time, Commons Transport Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury said:

    The Transport Committee will be watching closely to ensure that legislation is enacted without further delays.

    But, although ministers originally said the powers for councils to prohibit pavement parking in their areas would be created “at the next legislative opportunity” and “in parallel” with secondary legislation to allow enforcement against unnecessary obstruction of the pavement, the new area-wide power is clearly not happening any time soon.

    In relation to the pledge to allow enforcement against unnecessary obstruction of the pavement this year, Greenwood told another Labour MP, Anneliese Dodds:

    My officials have begun work on secondary legislation and guidance for this option, and associated stakeholder engagement.

    Oh good, more consultation.

  • A laughing stock

    Rail magazine reports that there is still no passenger service on East West Rail 500 days after it opened to traffic.

    Frustration is growing among residents and local politicians over the absence of passenger services along the route of the first phase of East West Rail, 500 days since the line opened to traffic and as the first anniversary approaches of Chiltern Railways being awarded the operating contract.

    EWR has been beset by problems that have prevented services from running – including trade disputes, issues with rolling stock, and construction delays.

    The latter includes at Winslow station – the only new station between Oxford and Milton Keynes.

    The trade disputes include an ongoing argument over whether trains will run on driver only operation – an issue that has long been expected to cause a row with rail unions.

    Similarly, the BBC reported a month ago:

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  • Marching on together?

    Following the admission that disclosure of a “peer review” of West Yorkshire’s mass transit plans would damage public confidence in them, central and regional government continue to act in a way that suggests the plans really are “in peril” and that the contribution of trams to the scheme may be limited.

    The latest desperate looking move is a press release from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA):

    Businesses, investors and political leaders have united to reaffirm their backing for West Yorkshire’s Mass Transit plans following a visit to the region from the Rail Minister.

    […]

    Leeds United Football Club is the latest high-profile organisation to throw its weight behind Mass Transit, alongside the National Wealth Fund and leading developer Muse.

    The press release adds:

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  • Undermining confidence

    National Highways appears no nearer to fixing the “drainage defect” that is disrupting a stretch of the M1, closing lane three in each direction.

    I wrote last week about the problem, which has, according to the government-owned company, weakened barrier supports in the central reservation, but which it is unable to explain.

    The BBC reported last week:

    Despite several inquiries by the BBC, National Highways has been unable to clarify the exact nature of what they describe as a “drainage defect” or what caused it.

    The roadworks, which began on 28 January (pictured), were officially scheduled to finish yesterday but have been extended for another week.

    National Highways has not responded to my request for comment, presumably because it does not know what is going on.

    As I post this, there are northbound delays, which is unsurprising as the road is currently operating as a three lane motorway with the hard shoulder in use as a running lane and an obvious lack of resilience.

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  • A small error

    A baffling announcement from the transport secretary has shone a light on her department’s determination to make the facts (or predictions) around carbon emissions fit Labour’s policy of expanding aviation in a climate emergency.

    A written statement to parliament from Heidi Alexander begins:

    On 19 February I wrote to the judge hearing the above claim in respect of my ongoing duty of candour in those proceedings.

    There is no reference before this, or indeed anywhere in the statement, to any claim or proceedings, although Alexander does later make equally baffling references to:

    an order of the court from 10 December 2025

    and to having

    apologised to the court and the parties and submitted a statement from a senior official in the department to explain the error and correct our position.

    At no point does she say which court but, unpicking all this, it looks as if the case is the legal challenge to Alexander’s decision to back expansion of Heathrow. You can tell this because she protests that

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  • “They’ve backed the wrong horse”

    There appears to by a straightforward answer to the question “Why has the world’s first hydrogen double-decker fleet failed?” as asked by the BBC.

    The corporation reports:

    The world’s first hydrogen double-decker bus fleet has reached the end of the road.

    The multi-million pound project in Aberdeen – involving 25 buses – was meant to be the future of clean public transportation, with the city billed as the global hub for hydrogen-powered buses.

    But the zero emissions vehicles are now being ditched, along with the ambition that 700 jobs could be created.

    The council announced on Thursday evening that it was to drop its hydrogen double-decker bus fleet in favour of electric vehicles following a meeting of its urgent business committee.

    It is unfortunate that it hasn’t worked, despite the (too?) high hopes.

    But to answer the why? question, Colin Walker, head of transport at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, wrote on LinkedIn:

    A lot of this boils down to money. Much, much more green electricity is required to produce the hydrogen required to move a vehicle a given distance than is required to move a battery electric vehicle the same distance. Obviously, the more electricity you use, the more you have to pay – which means, in a nutshell, hydrogen vehicles cost a lot more to fuel and run than electric vehicles. And ultimately, money talks, which explains why battery electric technology is leaving hydrogen behind as the technology of choice when it comes to decarbonising vehicles likes buses.

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  • As you were

    It’s a sign of how desperate the government is for good news that today the Department for Transport (DfT) has issued a press release in which the prime minister claims that not putting up rail fares “will put more money in working people’s pockets”.

    It is indeed good news that fares have not gone up at the beginning of this month and if the DfT says this is the first freeze for 30 years, I am happy to believe them, although they seem to be happier pointing to increases under the Tories than last year’s increase.

    British rail tickets for Standard off-peak travel day return for disabled. Image shot 11/2008. Exact date unknown.

    Here’s what Keir Starmer is claimed to have said:

    This freeze – the first since the 90s – will put more money in working people’s pockets. By keeping costs down we are making journeys more affordable for millions of people – putting train travel back into the service of passengers, not profits.

    I’m not sure how not charging people more is actively putting money in their pockets and of course the government takes the revenue risk on rail fares under National Rail Contracts.

    Meanwhile, the DfT says:

    With transport costs making up 14% of household spending, this cost-cutting move is providing real savings for passengers

    This is true but a bizarre thing to say all the same. Transport costs may make up 14% of household spending but rail fares could be as low as 1% of spending in the average household.

    It’s also quite funny that the DfT has used a picture (above) of old fashioned orange magnetic stripe tickets to illustrate the story – the ones the whole industry is trying to move away from. Just for fun, I left the caption in.

    But the DfT also rather stupidly refers to:

    building on the expansion of successful Pay As You Go and fares trials across the country

    In fact, the whole process of expanding pay as you go in the South East beyond London is and continues to be, a shambles.

    Of 50 stations that were due to go live in December, 20 (on Greater Anglia Routes) had to be delayed.

  • Concrete barriers and the weight of expectation

    This week, I was asked to look at and comment on this BBC story about a mysterious “drainage defect” that has led to the closure of the “lane three” northbound and southbound on the M1.

    Work is continuing on a stretch of the M1 in Bedfordshire as engineers investigate a “drainage defect” in the central reservation, according to National Highways.

    Lane closures between junction 12 at Toddington and junction 13 for Brogborough were first put in place on 27 January.

    Although the story was dated nearly two weeks ago (14 February) at a time when all lanes on the northbound carriageway were open, it appears that lane three is again closed in both directions.

    When it says “no delays expected”, the hard shoulder on this dynamic hard shoulder scheme is being used.

    It looks as if the drainage defect has been caused by the replacement of the steel barrier with concrete, which has somehow compromised the drainage in one or more ways, including possibly changing the hydraulics and compressing the soil.

    This has in turn weakened the barrier supports, according to National Highways.

    And with cabling having been laid, it looks as if it might be a complex problem to fix.

    Tony Fisher/BBC

    It’s a shame. I have written before about what National Highways was pro-actively doing to replace steel barriers with concrete, which is safer because of the reduced risk of head-on crossover crashes.

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  • A38 project is a transparency black hole

    Today’s guest blog from Clare Wood from the Stop the A38 Expansion Campaign takes up the theme of transparency over the value for money of major road projects.

    National Highways’ publication of a preliminary market engagement notice for the long-delayed A38 Derby Junctions scheme, now estimated at £600 million and set to run for 10 years, should not be mistaken for progress.

    Originally budgeted at £200–250m, the scheme has more than doubled in cost. National Highways and ministers now suggest that legal challenges and inflation are to blame.

    That narrative is convenient but it is also misleading.

    The A38 is not a victim of vexatious legal challenges. It is a project repeatedly exposed for weak appraisal, unlawful approval and economic obsolescence, problems of the Government’s own making both under Conservatives and Labour.

    This is an outdated, poorly justified road expansion project propped up by weak governance. The scheme was part of the Labour Government’s infrastructure spending review last year.

    The increased scheme costs have been known since July 2025 as the Office for Road and Rail published a report on National Highways’ performance. It’s worth noting legal challenges are not noted as a reason for increased costs and the Lower Thames Crossing has faced the greatest increases in costs but never dealt with a legal challenge.

    As the A38 scheme has spiralled in cost, there remains no Full Business Case, no published Accounting Officer Assessment. The Information Commissioner’s Office has ruled that National Highways must disclose the information used by Government to approve the A38 expansion in last year’s Spending Review. National Highways is appealing against the decision and the Department for Transport is delaying a related internal review on the cancellation of Midlands Main Line electrification, raising serious concerns about transparency in how these major funding decisions were made.

    National Highways has blamed the legal challenges for rising A38 costs yet conveniently failed to share any details about those legal challenges.

    Both legal challenges to the scheme were the result of concerns raised during official examination processes that were ignored.

    The first challenge succeeded because the then transport secretary, Grant Shapps, conceded the approval was unlawful — the scheme was permitted to proceed without properly considering its cumulative carbon emissions, despite significant environmental and climate harms documented in National Highways’ own planning documents.

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