UK rail and airport infrastructure investment predicted to double by 2025

UK transport infrastructure investment is projected to increase at an average annual rate of about 5% between 2014 and 2025, according to analysis released today by PwC with the bulk of spending in rail and airports. Roads and ports spending will remain static, the firm predicts.

Jackie Whitelaw
02 October 2015

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The analysis of transport infrastructure spending to 2025 also based on research by Oxford Economics estimates the scale of current transport infrastructure investment and assesses the prospects for future investment from now to 2025. The 2014 investment of £14.11bn is predicted to increase to £23.86bn.

Rail infrastructure and airports investment will almost double by 2025, with growth rates of over 6% per annum respectively.

Investment in sea ports is predicted to grow by 1.83% on average per year over the forecast period (compared with 5.8% growth in sea port investment worldwide), while road network investments are expected to slow down to an annual growth rate of 0.17%.

PWC and Oxford Economics predict that road spending in 2025 will be £3.21bn only slightly up on the £3.15bn of 2014.

But for rail, including stations and terminals, investment is expected to rise to £15.49bn from £8.09bn. While airport spending increases from £2.54bn to £4.76bn.

Sea ports stays virtually flat at  £0.4bn on 2025 from £0.33bn in 2014.

“Transport infrastructure investment growth in the UK will likely be moderate in the near future, given the already well-developed transport network as well as continuing fiscal constraints and a high demand for more social infrastructure, especially in healthcare,” said UK capital projects and infrastructure leader at PwC Neil Broadhead.

“However, rail investment in the UK is forecast to have strong growth. There is growing opinion in favour of public transport in the UK and high-speed networks are expected to undergo further development.

“Coordination of the skills base and supply chain in such complex infrastructure programmes can be difficult. In the High Speed 2 and Network Rail electrification programmes, for example, there are concerns about whether the UK has sufficient skills in terms of design, engineering and construction as well as project management resources to deliver and meet investor expectations.

“Our forecasts present a positive picture of a growing market for transport infrastructure, but it is important to ensure that this money is invested carefully and wisely, delivering increasing value to the funders, including all of us as users, taxpayers or investors.”