UKIP Manifesto 2019

For Brexit and Beyond
9. Transport
Britain is a small and crowded island. We need a comprehensive and reliable transport network. It needs to
be continually maintained and developed to meet the needs of all commuters and travellers, while taking
care to protect the precious British countryside.
• UKIP will scrap HS2. At an estimated cost of £100 billion, this vanity project is not affordable.(5) HS2
will destroy people’s lives and will have a huge environmental impact.
• UKIP will use some of the money saved from HS2 to invest in the existing railways to improve
capacity and journey times. We will seek to re-open old branch lines closed in the Beeching cuts where
economically feasible, and also to develop the metro systems of our conurbations.
• UKIP will seek to restore some of the subsidised bus services that have had to end, leaving many
rural communities with no public transport.
• The problem of failing rail operators must be solved. All options would be considered, including
setting up a new government-owned company to take over and run failing franchises or replacing the
franchise model altogether.
• UKIP opposes the expansion of Heathrow Airport. The current Heath row plan will destroy many
villages and listed buildings as well as add to pollution in the locality. Instead, UKIP supports a second
runway at Gatwick Airport and will encourage investment in regional airports.
• UKIP will scrap all road tolls. Tolling increases costs to business and the public. Road users are
already overtaxed and should not be paying twice to use our roads. We will also block any introduction of
pay-as-you-go road pricing.
• We will Repeal Regulation (EU) 2015/758 (E-Call) and remove the mandatory requirement for the
fitting and use of GPS trackers in UK vehicles.
• Smart motorways can reduce congestion by controlling speeds and reducing the wave effect, but
should not be used as a money-making scam nor as a precursor for pay-as-you-go road pricing. The hard
shoulder should not be removed on smart motorways as this is dangerous.
• UKIP will stop diesel drivers from being penalised through discriminatory parking fees or zone
charging. Modern diesels are far cleaner today, and many people bought their vehicles in good faith on
government advice.
• UKIP supports open, free-market competition between petrol, diesel and electric vehicles, but will
end subsidies and vehicle tax exemptions for electric vehicles.
• Electric charging infrastructure is not keeping pace with demand for electric vehicles. We will
support free-market solutions to increase the installation of charging stations. We will also encourage
off-street parking and charging provision in new housing and industrial developments through the local
planning process.
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