Scrapped Stonehenge road could fund South West’s sustainable travel revolution

Connecting South West England: in place of A303/A358 widening. The Executive summary is here, and full report here.
An alternative transport investment to connect South West England – a forgotten region
Supported by the Stonehenge Alliance, our allies Transport Action Network (TAN) [1] commissioned transport policy experts, Greengauge 21 [2], to explore better transport connectivity for the South West, after the scrapping of two highly contentious road schemes by the Government. Published this month, the report [3] proposes using some of the £2.5 billion saved by cancelling the A303 Stonehenge and A358 schemes [4] to invest in rail, bus and active travel instead.
Recognising that public finances are tight, the report’s proposals are modest, but nonetheless essential if the South West is to grow jobs and homes, and avoid becoming the forgotten region, cut off during extreme weather events.
What does the report say?
The Government has saved over £2.5bn from scrapping the deeply unpopular A303 and A358 road schemes. It needs to reinvest some of that into low carbon solutions that will safeguard connectivity to the South West, improve opportunities and grow the economy by:
1. Delivering a showcase integrated public transport network across a swathe of Wiltshire–Dorset–Somerset–Devon—the broad A303/A358 corridor, using railheads as key hubs for all transport modes
2. Enhancing the capacity and capability of the Salisbury–Exeter railway
3. Opening new station and enhancing services to deliver sustainable housing expansions—for example Wellington, Somerset, and Devizes Gateway, Wiltshire
4. Replacing the diesel fleet providing today’s Salisbury-Exeter railway services with a discontinuous electric solution using adapted existing rolling stock
5. Adopting an explicit climate change adaptation strategy to sustain rail access to South West England through adverse weather events
6. Supporting the re-introduction of rail freight in the South West with a new regional R&D grant as necessary to get services up and running
7. Funding the creation of a national cycle route, broadly parallel to the A303, in addition to much improved local active travel networks.

Strategy Summary map: Connecting South West England in place of A303/A358 widening © Greengauge 21
Chris Todd, Director, Transport Action Network said:
“For far too long the South West has been the forgotten region with transport policy and investment stuck in the sidings. Beeching’s legacy is undermining the South West’s ability to cope with an increasing population and extreme weather events. This report aims to turn that around, with a set of pragmatic, but necessary, solutions to boost economic growth and new homes.
“We can’t escape increasingly severe weather events, but we can better prepare and ensure that when there is flooding on the Somerset Levels, alternative rail routes are available. At present, these alternatives are not robust and the South West risks becoming cut off from the rest of the UK.”
Network Rail has long recognised that the line suffers from poor reliability and punctuality but lacks the investment.
Nick Hurrell of Salisbury to Exeter Users Group (SERUG) told the BBC:
“Performance is appalling. There’s a target of 90% of trains to run on time. That target has been hit on just one day in the last four months. Over half the trains run late on this line.”
“There are 88 miles between Salisbury and Exeter. It needs 12 miles of additional track, doubling the loops where trains can pass at speed. That would transform the line from, at best, two trains an hour to four or even five in both directions.” [6]
The Transport Minister’s response to the debate this month on Railway Services in the South West, was encouraging:
“SWR performance on the west of England line has been challenging, and falls way below our expectations for passengers. The mostly single-line section between Salisbury and Exeter has suffered multiple failures and has little resilience in the event of disruption. SWR and Network Rail have therefore dedicated a specific working group to looking at minimising the impact of delay and cancellation going forward.” [7]
NOTES:
[1] Transport Action Network (TAN) helps communities press for better and more sustainable transport through investment in bus and rail services and active travel. More here.
[2] Greengauge21 is an independent policy research group specialising in transport and its wider impacts. More here.
[3] The Executive summary is here, and full report here.
[4] The A330 Stonehenge was costed at £2.5bn, while the A358 was last costed at £397m and was cancelled as an “unfunded transport commitment”. See table in Cancel New Roads to Boost Growth
[5] The A303 was scrapped by Rachel Reeves on 29 July 2024 and the A358 Taunton – Southfields was scrapped in the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024. More information about the issues surrounding the A303 Stonehenge road scheme can be found on the Stonehenge Alliance website.
[6] BBC report, 17 January 2025, Railway sorely in need of investment, study finds
[7] Simon Lightfoot MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Transport on 14 January 2025 at the Westminster Debate Railway Services: South-West. Transcript here
ELSEWHERE IN MEDIA
Rail Magazine 17 January 2025 ‘Failing’ Waterloo-Exeter line ‘sorely in need of investment ‘ as study recommends key improvements
Salisbury Journal 24 January 2025 ‘Scrapped Stonehenge road to fund sustainable travel’
SERUG (Salisbury to Exeter Rail Users Group) 20 January 2025 Response and review of Greengauge report (to come)
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