The UK's unreliable and congested transport network is undermining the long-term competitiveness of business, according to a new report by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which is being launched to coincide with the first meeting of a new transport group of influential business leaders.

The CBI Transport Task and Finish Group, includes firms from sectors, such as retail, construction, finance and transport. It is tasked with suggesting new ways that investment and innovation can be injected into the current transport system and will report back to the CBI by the end of the year.

The two key questions the group will consider are: can private finance help deliver new and improved transport links in the long-term; and what incentives could change people's behaviour and travel patterns reduce congestion and cut pollution in the short-term?


The group will be chaired by Terry Hill, Chairman of international infrastructure specialists Arup.

Mr Hill said: "A reliable transport network which is able to cope with increasing demand is vital if the UK is to hold its own with European competitors.

"Financing major infrastructure projects will be more difficult during a recession. But this new group will explore how we better engage with the private sector in long-term investment in such projects, not just in designing and building, but operating them too."

The CBI report, 'Time to change gear?', assesses the current state of the UK transport network. It rates different modes of transport, according to their reliability and capacity, by drawing on a range of published evidence.

The road network comes off worst, rated ‘poor’ and judged to be worsening for both reliability and capacity.

More improvement has been made on the railways, with train travel rated 'satisfactory' for its reliability, judged as improving, and 'satisfactory' for capacity.

Capacity at UK airports is rated 'poor' in the CBI's report, and getting worse. Reliability gets a 'satisfactory'.

(CD/JM)