MOST of the transport department’s shrivelling budget is likely to be spent on small road improvements, MPs were told yesterday.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond warned there was likely to be little extra cash let over for big new rail schemes, after the autumn spending squeeze.
Warning he was battling to secure sufficient funds merely to complete projects already under way, Mr Hammond said: “I don’t know whether can commit to new schemes going ahead.”
The gloomy comments, in evidence to the transport select committee, will heighten alarm about the likely fate of the Second Mersey Crossing project and the plan to electrify the Liverpool to Manchester rail line.
In an interview with the Daily Post last week, Mr Hammond pointed to funding “black holes” in Labour’s plans for both schemes. On the Second Crossing, he described the “problem” of the soaring share of the funding package expected to come from PFI credits, up from £123m to “over £300m”.
