The pothole backlog has nearly doubled
In 2010 it would have cost £8.5 billion to bring every local road up to standard. By 2024 that figure had ballooned to £16.3 billion — a maintenance debt that grows faster than councils can fill holes.
Trains are less punctual than a decade ago
Just 85% of trains arrived on time in 2024–25 — worse than in any pre-pandemic year since 2002. Meanwhile passenger numbers have returned almost to their 2019 peak.
Local roads are crumbling
19% of unclassified roads — the residential streets, rural lanes, and side roads where most driving happens — are now in poor condition. A-roads fare better thanks to central funding, but B and C roads are deteriorating too.
Councils fill millions of potholes but can’t keep up
Over 2 million potholes were filled in 2024 alone. Yet the repair backlog keeps growing — from £8.5bn in 2010 to £16.3bn in 2024. The more you patch, the more there is to patch.
Rail punctuality peaked in 2009 and has been sliding since
The Public Performance Measure hit 91.5% in 2009–10. Since then it has declined through timetable chaos, underinvestment, and industrial action — to just 85.2% in 2024–25. One in seven trains is late.
Passengers returned, reliability did not
Rail journeys more than doubled from 700 million in the mid-1980s to 1.75 billion before the pandemic. Numbers have bounced back to 1.73 billion, but the network is delivering a worse service than it did with far fewer passengers.
Full-fibre broadband is the bright spot
FTTP coverage has surged from just 6% in 2018 to 78% in 2025. Almost 24 million premises can now get a full-fibre connection — transforming Britain from a European laggard into a credible competitor.
Download speeds have nearly doubled
Median download speeds climbed from 37 Mbps in 2018 to nearly 70 Mbps by 2023, driven by fibre rollout and network upgrades. Upload speeds tripled as FTTP replaced copper.
Roads are busier than ever
Traffic has reached 336 billion vehicle miles — an all-time high. Cars dominate, but vans and light commercial vehicles have surged as online shopping reshaped logistics.
More traffic, worse roads, same network
Britain’s major road network has barely expanded since 2000 — adding just 1,460 km of motorway and A-road in 25 years. Traffic has grown 16% in the same period. More vehicles on the same tarmac accelerates deterioration.
Rail electrification has stalled
After a burst of activity in 2018–19, rail electrification has slowed to a trickle. Britain still runs diesel trains on most of its network — only 39% of route-km are electrified, far behind France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The network is shrinking
Total rail route-km has fallen from 16,587 km in 1990 to 15,747 km in 2025. Lines have been closed, mothballed, or reclassified while demand doubled. Meanwhile 4G mobile coverage still only reaches 96% of the UK landmass.