The UK’s next budget includes a $ 9.6 billion transport investment outside London as part of plans to reduce economic inequality.
Finance Minister Rishi Sunak will present the initiative in the next budget and the cost review next Wednesday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “match-up” plan is seen as essential to maintaining the support of the former strongholds of the Labor opposition that backed him in the 2019 election.
His Conservative Party won many seats in the north of England with the promise of leaving the European Union and creating jobs.
Funding for the transportation program will go to areas of the “red wall” of former workers who supported the Conservatives two years ago, and are seen as compensation for this support.
The finance ministry said in a statement that the government would invest in urban areas to improve productivity by upgrading railways and stations and expanding the tram network.
It also includes features to improve bus services.
The government is trying to speed up travel times, simplify fares and increase service outside London, amid complaints of poor service to regions outside the capital that affect business.
“This transportation revolution will help us achieve this balance by modernizing our local transportation networks to suit our cities and the people who live and work in them,” Sunak said in the statement.
