Investment in roads not rail best route to net zero, Armitt tells MPs

Peter Stonham

23 January 2025

Left to right: Hannah Brown, Director of Policy at the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), Julia Prescot, Deputy Chair, NIC, and Sir John Armitt, Chair, NIC at the Transport Select Committee meeting

The Government’s infrastructure advisory chief has told MPs that more money should be devoted to building roads with less of a focus on pushing people to travel by train. Sir John Armitt told the Commons transport select committee that the Government ought to face the reality that “the bulk of the population is totally reliant on road”.

National Infrastructure Commission chair Armitt expects continued pressure on UK roads, but no significant growth on the rail network,...