The government has published a new ‘Transport resilience strategy’, setting out how ministers, the transport sector and local partners will work together to strengthen the resilience of the UK transport system in the event of disruption, including climate change or even attacks from overseas.
The strategy sets out the government’s approach to strengthening the resilience of the UK transport system over the next five to 10 years, the Department for Transport said.
It also outlines how government will work with industry and local partners in relation to the transport system to better understand risks, reduce vulnerabilities, and improve preparedness for disruption across the transport system.
This needs to include setting out practical measures to improve risk assessment, horizon scanning, exercising, and local collaboration, the DfT added.
Within the strategy, the department also outlined a key set of present and future commitments, including to:
- Improve and standardise risk assessment by promoting best practice, tools, and the creation and standardisation of inter-modal transport industry risk registers.
- Improve understanding of future transport risks by expanding risk products, including Transport Hazard Summaries, and providing regular threat and hazard briefings through existing industry forums.
- Enhance horizon-scanning capabilities through sharing of assessments and targeted training.
- Assess resilience capability across the sector by working with regulators and partners to strengthen assurance.
- Improve scrutiny of risks by establishing an expert transport resilience red teaming panel.
- Manage cross-sector interdependencies by providing guidance on upstream risks and aligning transport and energy resilience planning.
- Strengthen preparedness by delivering a coordinated, multi-year exercise programme and encouraging wider partner participation.
- Embed continuous learning by supporting the transport sector to review incidents and action lessons identified, whilst doing the same within the department, including agencies and arm’s length bodies.
- Set expectations, and improve visibility, of system resilience by developing, establishing, and monitoring transport resilience standards for the sector
The report, further, highlights a number of best practice case studies, including the National Highways Battery Back-Up Trial.
This is trialling the use of ‘Uninterruptible Power Supply’ batteries across key sites. These systems are designed to instantly and automatically deliver continuous power to gantry-mounted signs if the mains supply fails.
“As electrical providers continue to invest in and upgrade national infrastructure, the Uninterruptible Power Supply solution ensures that the technology remains reliable even during localised disruptions,” the report emphasised.
“In the event of a fault or outage, critical signs such as variable speed limits, lane closures, and red-X signals remain active, reducing the risk of collisions and helping traffic controllers manage incidents effectively.
“This ensures drivers continue to receive the information they need. The Uninterruptible Power Supply systems also provide strategic resilience during major national incidents. Even in the event of widespread power issues, National Highways can continue to set and maintain tactical signs, enabling coordinated traffic management and supporting emergency response operations,” it added.
Launching the report, minister for aviation, maritime and decarbonisation Keir Maher said: “Conflict in the Middle East in 2026 has demonstrated how geopolitical events thousands of miles away can affect the UK transport system, disrupting international travel and impacting fuel supply and the resilience of our supply chains. Together, these events show resilience cannot be treated as an ‘optional extra’, but as something that is vital to the operations of businesses and transport operators. Preparedness and effective resilience strategy will ultimately benefit people, families, and communities.
“Whilst 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,” Maher added.
The full report can be viewed at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ae846643d3bf10d2354627e/transport-resilience-strategy.pdf
Image: Luton at night (Pexels)
