The Government’s programme of maximising motorway capacity without widening has taken its next step forward after the second stretch of motorway with hard-shoulder running was opened this morning.

The hard-shoulder on a seven-mile stretch of England's busiest motorway – the M6 – was opened a month earlier than planned.

The hard-shoulder between junctions four and five of the M6 near Birmingham is now open as a traffic lane during busy periods.

In addition, the first ‘through-junction running’ scheme, which will see traffic on the hard-shoulder drive across the exit and entry lanes, will open on the M42 on December 9.

Transport minister Chris Mole said its programme was on track to deliver 340 miles of hard-shoulder running.

“By 2015, an investment of around £3bn - half of our planned spending on the national roads programme – is expected to deliver 340 additional lane miles for road users through schemes like this,” he said.

Results from a pilot on the M42 pilot showed more reliable journey times (a 22% improvement) and safer journeys – with a reduction in the number of accidents from an average 5.1 a month to 1.8 a month.