Transport

In 1952, Great Britain had no motorways and only about 3 million cars. We still lived in the golden age of steam on the railways, and air travel was enjoyed only by the privileged few.

Today, we have around 26.5 million cars and vans, and over 3,400 kilometres of motorway. More than 85 per cent of the passenger kilometres we travel are by car, van or taxi, compared with 27 per cent in 1952.

The total distance we travelled within the UK using all forms of transport more than trebled between 1952 and 2001, from 218 to 722 billion passenger-kilometres. This includes more than a tenfold increase in the distance travelled by road, from 58 billion to 613 billion kilometres.

The distance travelled by rail in 2001 has increased by 24 per cent since 1952, even though rail's share of overall travel has fallen from 18 to 7 per cent. The distance travelled by bus/coach has dropped by half, while that travelled by cycle is only one sixth of its 1952 level.

Today, 73 per cent of households have access to at least one car, compared with only 15 per cent in 1952.

The roads network is now about one third longer than in 1952, while the rail network is only about half as long.

The number of passengers flying into and out of the UK's main airports is now about 65 times higher than in 1952. The distance travelled by air within the UK has risen 38-fold.

The growth in overseas air travel for holidays and business has also been huge. Outward and inbound trips made by air have risen nearly 100-fold from 1.5 million in 1952 to over 140 million in 2000.