Transport tolls fund Lib Dem plans

With revenue from the new taxes estimated at £750 million a year, the party believes it could raise as much as £12 billion over five years from the money markets to double investment in rail as part of the battle against climate change.

The proposals could halt growth in the internal flight market and shift large amounts of freight from road to rail, potentially cutting the UK's carbon emissions by more than 2.6 million tonnes a year, said environment spokesman Chris Huhne.

A new Future Transport Fund would use the money raised from the taxes to leverage in private investment in projects like high-speed rail links connecting London with Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Tyneside and Scotland in the north and Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter in the west.

But there would be no pain for private motorists in the new proposals - although the Lib Dems remain committed to a national road pricing scheme "in the longer term", Mr Huhne said that it was not a practical option within the 10-year timescale in which experts say action must be taken to halt global warming.

The proposals form part of a package to be presented to the Lib Dem conference in September for approval, which would also see higher taxes on gas-guzzling cars and a change in air duties to levy charges on flights rather than individual passengers. Mr Huhne said that investment in high-speed rail had "killed" the domestic air market in countries like France and Germany, and could be expected to halt the exponential growth in flights between cities in the UK.

He pointed to the 19% jump in passengers on Channel tunnel trains linking London to Paris and Brussels after journey times were reduced, and Air France's decision to scrap flights between Paris and Brussels following the launch of a new high-speed rail link.

"Lifeline" routes such as those linking the Orkneys and Shetlands to the mainland would be exempted from the £10-a-ticket climate change charge on internal flights, which would be expected to raise at least £150 million a year.

A lorry toll similar to systems already in place in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic could produce £600 million a year, said the Lib Dems. Truckers would pay an average of 11p a mile, with the charge varying according to vehicle emissions. The German tolling system requires lorry-users to declare journeys in special lay-bys or to install a £50 transponder in the cab which automatically tracks their movements.

Mr Huhne said: "Plans to improve the railways must not be scuppered yet again by public spending constraints. The Future Transport Fund will provide ring-fenced funding for the improvements that future generations need if we are to cut our carbon emissions. These plans will shift freight from road to rail, cut carbon, and improve mobility as the rail network begins to run out of capacity."