The Government’s recent spending review paused Phase 3 of the Midland Mainline electrification—despite clear evidence it would deliver nearly £400 million in local economic benefit, create 5,000 skilled jobs, reduce emissions, and transform rail capacity across the East Midlands.

At the same time, ministers are planning to waste hundreds of millions on the A38 Derby Junctions road expansion—an outdated, disruptive road scheme whose true costs remain unknown and whose Full Business Case won't be published until June 2026.

The cost of the A38 Derby Junctions scheme has now ballooned to over £646 million – more than double its 2019 estimate and well above the threshold that recently led the Government to cancel the A1 Morpeth–Ellingham dualling in Northumberland. That A1 project, projected to exceed £500 million, was scrapped as “unfunded and poor value for money” in the last Spending Review. If the Government is willing to halt a major road scheme on those grounds, it must apply the same logic to the A38: cancel this unaffordable, destructive project and invest instead in cleaner, fairer transport instead.

Despite weak and outdated economic modelling, the Government continues to back this road scheme and others, ignoring that expanding road capacity induces extra traffic and locks in more air pollution and carbon emissions. In contrast, electrified rail can reduce diesel use, improve air quality, cut operating costs, and support transport modal shift to reduce congestion on roads.

Write Now to Demand Change

Use our simple letter-writing tool to contact key decision-makers:

• Push them to reallocate funding to Phase 3 of the Midland Mainline electrification.
• Tell them to cancel the A38 road expansion.
• Urge full transparency: the updated A38 Full Business Case must be published

Personal stories make campaigns stronger: explain why you care about clean air, jobs, reliable rail, or your local community. Politely remind politicians of the urgent climate and economic case for rail over roads.