Building transport resilience
The transport resilience strategy sets out the government’s approach to strengthening the resilience of the UK transport system over the next 5 to 10 years.
I want to inform the House that my department has published the transport resilience strategy today (2 November 2026).
Transport is vital to our way of life. It connects people to family and jobs, goods to industry and supports connectivity, economic growth and health. A secure and resilient transport system is essential to thriving communities and to delivering economic growth across every part of the UK.
The publication of the resilience action plan in July 2025 set out this government’s strategic approach to building resilience in an increasingly volatile and uncertain world. This transport resilience strategy puts that approach into practice for the transport sector, setting our direction for the next 5 to 10 years.
The threats and hazards facing our transport system are becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. Its interconnectedness means that disruption in one place can quickly have consequences elsewhere, affirming the importance of building resilience across the system overall. Recent events show resilience cannot be treated as an ‘optional extra’, but as something that is vital to the operations of businesses and transport operators.
But resilient infrastructure and robust plans are only part of the answer. While we will continue to embrace automation and advances in digital technology to improve safety and effectiveness, transport remains a people-dependent system. Therefore, it is vital that people within the transport system are equipped with the knowledge, capabilities and tools necessary to keep transport moving. By ensuring that everyone knows their role and how it impacts the continuing resilience of the transport system, and by ensuring that transport users are prepared and armed with the right information, we can reduce the likelihood of disruption and lessen its impact when it occurs.
To help achieve this, the strategy aims to better assess ongoing transport resilience to identify and target areas for improvement, enable the whole system – including transport users – to take action to improve resilience, and strengthen government resilience capabilities. It makes 22 practical commitments to improve transport resilience, including the delivery of a new training initiative, the Transport Resilience Academy and the establishment of a sector-wide transport resilience network. Through these initiatives, we will strengthen collaboration, connections and system-wide understanding across the transport system, local partners and other sectors, enabling them to share evidence and best practice and address common risks together.
Transport resilience is a whole-government, whole-sector, and whole-society endeavour. No single organisation can deliver it alone. As the minister responsible for transport resilience, I am pleased to present a strategy which sets out how we will work together over the coming years to strengthen the resilience of our transport system, protect the connections on which people and businesses depend, and ultimately improve the everyday experience of those who use our networks.
The strategy has been developed with stakeholders from across government and the transport system. I am grateful to everyone who contributed their experience and evidence.
The transport resilience strategy has been placed in the libraries of both Houses and is available on GOV.UK.