Poor links to air and sea ports

Britain's economic success is threatened by poor road links to air and sea ports, says a report out today. A special fund should be set up by the Government to implement the schemes to "unblock the arteries that sustain continued economic prosperity", said the British Road Federation. The federation also called for a greater proportion of the growing tax taken from transport users to be specifically used to improve the UK's infrastructure.

The report said that UK ports handled 550 million tonnes of freight in 1995 - a 100 million-tonne increase on 1985, as well as 1.6 million goods vehicles, 7.6 million cars and 235,000 buses and coaches. Meanwhile, UK airports handled 115 million passengers in 1995 - 87 per cent more than in 1985, while freight-handling rose 105 per cent, from 802,000 tonnes in 1985 to 1.61 million tonnes in 1995. If Terminal 5 were built at Heathrow airport, London, it added, further improvements would be needed to public transport and roads, over and above those already proposed. There was also need for better links to Manchester airport, which is to get a new runway.