A dozen infrastructure schemes designed to ease congestion and overcrowding have been either abandoned or postponed until well into the next decade, according to an analysis of Department for Transport figures. The only major addition to the capacity of the network ordered in the past ten years has been an extra lane on the M25, and even this is not due to be completed until 2016.

The Government has repeatedly claimed that rising costs have made new road links, tram networks and rail upgrades unaffordable. But official figures uncovered by the Conservatives reveal that more than £1 billion has already been spent since 2000 without providing any extra capacity.

The most expensive single scheme on the list of stalled projects is Crossrail, the plan for mainline rail tunnels under Central London to relieve congestion on the Central Line. It has cost £254 million since 2001 without an inch of tunnel being dug. The Government has yet to commit itself to fund the £16 billion project and officials privately admit that, even if it goes ahead, it may not be ready until 2020.

Almost £300 million has been spent preparing for tram schemes in Portsmouth, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester that have either been cancelled or greatly reduced in scope. In 2000 John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, promised 25 new tram lines by 2010. So far two have opened: in Nottingham and the London City Airport extension of the Docklands Light Railway.

The Thameslink 2000 project to upgrade the north-south rail route across London was due to open six years ago but is unlikely to be ready for another decade. More than £80 million has been spent on preparatory works at St Pancras, including tunnels that will be boarded up and a station that will remain half-empty.

Another white elephant is Stratford International Station, in East London, which cost £210 million but might never be used by the Eurostar trains for which it was built.

Dozens of road schemes have been delayed or cancelled, including a plan to place the A303 near Stonehenge in a tunnel. More than £20 million has been spent on studies and inquires, but the Government dropped the scheme last year, saying that it was too expensive and that other options would be reconsidered.

The boldest proposal to emerge in recent years was for a 50-mile toll motorway between Manchester and Birmingham to relieve the overburdened M6. But last month the Government abandoned the idea, saying that it would be too expensive.

More than £35 million has been spent on various other feasibility studies and reports that have resulted in no action. A study on a 200mph North-South rail line was completed four years ago but then shelved.

Stephen Glaister, Professor of Transport at Imperial College, said that Labour’s insistence on getting the private sector to invest in transport schemes had resulted in several years of delay.

The £1 billion list does not include £455 million spent on fees and bidding costs for the London Underground Public-Private Partnership, which started two years late and will not create extra capacity on key lines for another five years.

Professor Glaister said: “There has been a lot of talk about the importance of investing in transport, but politicians know that health and education are what count in elections.”

Chris Grayling, the Shadow Transport Secretary, said: “The Government has made promise after promise about improving our transport system but has wasted a billion pounds while commuters cram on to even more overcrowded trains and sit in ever longer traffic jams.”

He said that the Conservatives would pay for new tram lines but were unconvinced of the benefits of the existing Crossrail scheme.

The Department for Transport said: “Billions are being invested in transport but things don’t happen overnight.”

See also:

Tories list Government's '20 broken promises' on transport

Press Association: 25/08/2006

The Conservatives today published a dossier of what they described as "20 Government broken promises" that will affect bank holiday travel this weekend.

Leeds Supertram - on hold

The list includes cancelled or delayed road and rail improvements to likely UK holiday destinations and festivals in Leeds, Reading and Manchester.

Shadow transport secretary Chris Grayling said: "Every bank holiday people in Britain getting away for the weekend seem to face traffic jams and rail disruption on our congested transport system.

"The Government has made promise after promise about making improvements, but hardly any of them ever seem to happen."

These are the schemes listed by the Conservatives, with what was promised and what has actually happened:

PROMISED: Completing dualling of the A1 between Morpeth and Alnwick in north east England

ACTUAL: On hold

PROMISED: Modernisation and increased capacity on the East Coast Main Line (£4 billion)

ACTUAL: On hold

PROMISED: Stonehenge tunnel, announced in 2002

ACTUAL On hold

PROMISED: M5 Bristol to Weston route management strategy

ACTUAL: On hold

PROMISED: M4/M32/M48/M49 Swindon to South Wales route management strategy

ACTUAL: On hold

PROMISED: To increase West Country rail capacity by 50% as outlined in Department for Transport's (DfT) 10-Year Plan in 2000

ACTUAL: The Government has specified cuts in services running to Newquay, Falmouth, and St Ives

PROMISED: A30 Temple to Higher Carblake improvement in Cornwall announced in 2003

ACTUAL: Unlikely to be funded before 2016 at the earliest and rejected by the Department for Transport (DfT) last month

PROMISED: A30 Carland Cross to Chiverton Cross improvement, West Country

ACTUAL: Unlikely to be funded before 2016 at the earliest, rejected by the DfT last month

PROMISED: Further capacity enhancements on the London-Brighton and Chiltern lines, and increased capacity on the Brighton line from London

ACTUAL: Trains to the south coast remain overcrowded. Plans to upgrade the Brighton line have been shelved, and the Gatwick Express is facing the axe

PROMISED: Completion of Thameslink 2000 rail scheme

ACTUAL: Delayed with no construction date and no funding

PROMISED: A3 Hindhead improvement in Surrey

ACTUAL: Project announced but then shelved

PROMISED: South Hampshire Rapid Transit System

ACTUAL: Scheme approved in 2001 and then cancelled in 2004

PROMISED: Brighton & Hove Bus Rapid Transit System

ACTUAL: Rejected by the DfT until at least 2016

PROMISED: A66 Scotch Corner to Penrith upgrade

ACTUAL: On hold

PROMISED: Blackpool and Fleetway Tramway upgrade - phase one

ACTUAL: Rejected by the DfT this year

PROMISED: Manchester Metrolink phase three

ACTUAL: Government first approved funding in 2000, then withdrew it in 2004 and then gave it back in 2006 but only for phase one of the scheme

PROMISED: Work on developing and appraising a third platform at Manchester Airport Station, with the scheme hopefully implemented in 2008

ACTUAL: This was announced in May this year, five years after it was first mentioned by the Strategic Rail Authority

PROMISED: Mention in year 2000, 10-year transport plan of schemes to tackle strategic bottlenecks on the rail network, including those in the West Midlands and in the Manchester commuter area

ACTUAL: The suburban rail improvements around Manchester Piccadilly promised in the plan have not come to fruition and it remains a bottleneck

PROMISED: Upgrading of the Great Western Main Line as mentioned in the 10-year plan

ACTUAL: Reading station has not been upgraded to allow for additional capacity to the west

PROMISED: Leeds Supertram

ACTUAL: It was given approval in 2001 but cancelled in 2004