Fifty years ago today, the M1 which provides a vital link between London and South East, and the North was opened by the minister of transport at the time, Ernest Marples.

On the same day, the Blue Boar Motorway Service Area – the first motorway service area - opened on this site and provided a valuable respite for drivers travelling between London and the North.

Driver tiredness is estimated to account for around one fifth of accidents on major roads. Today over sixty motorway service areas across England play a vital part in ensuring that drivers have the opportunity to take a break and have a cup of coffee or a bite to eat.

Road users tell us they value journey reliability and predictability most, which is why the M1 - as it enters its 50th year - is set to evolve yet again.

Our priority is to get more out of the existing network and so relieve pressure on the most overcrowded routes. And thanks to the Government’s up to £6 billion investment package for national road schemes, the M1 is set to benefit from managed motorway technology.

Managed motorways are all about modernising the existing network and offering more capacity at the busiest times - a feat made possible by combining innovative technology with new operating procedures.

This managed motorway system is already in use on the M42 in the West Midlands. And we’ve seen how traffic flow can be smoothed by managing speed and by opening the hard shoulder as an extra running lane in peak times. The net result has been improved journey reliability and safety. And it has proved popular with drivers.

In the future, users can expect to see new gantries, signs and signals come into operation on key stretches of the M1. They’ll also see the hard shoulder being opened as a running lane to increase capacity, so that at busy times, they will enjoy far more reliable journeys.

The motorway network in England has since grown into a comprehensive network, which although it makes up just 1% of total road length, actually carries nearly 20% of all traffic and over 40% of all heavy goods traffic.

Its development remains an extraordinary achievement and makes a huge contribution to our economy and our way of life. But although motorways have changed somewhat since 1959, for my money, the M1 remains England’s most iconic.

Thank you.

(This speech represented existing departmental policy but the words may not have been the same as those used by the Minister.)