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The Liberal Democrats claimed last week that Labour has expanded Britain's roads 15 times faster than its railways in the past decade. Although many hauliers would like to see even more roads built, the Lib Dems say that since 1997, there have been 405 miles of road and motorway constructed, against just 27 miles of railway. The figures, based on a Parliamentary answer and a letter from Network Rail, indicate that spending on building  new motorways is 10 times more than on laying new railway track.

Norman Baker, the Lib Dems' Shadow Transport Secretary, says: "The figures show that behind its green façade, the government has been pursuing the same old unsustainable Tory policy of treating roads as new investment and new rail as subsidy." The Freight Transport Association, which wants increased expansion of both roads and railways, says that it is more spending all round which is needed. Geoff Dossetter, the FTA's director of external affairs, says: "It is quite clear that if we want to remain competitive, we have to invest in all modes of transport."

One of the problems for investing in both new roads and railway is that there are usually objections to both. Dossetter says: "Rail is so often put forward by environmentalists as the best option, but when the government tries to build new railways, they come up against exactly the same sort of complaints as  they do with roads." In reply to the Lib Dems' question, the DfT says the cost of building a mile of motorway was £28.4 million, against £43 million for a mile of high-speed railway line.