Tories plan US-style trust to entice private sector to plug £130bn infrastructure gap in London

Business would share financial returns with the state, making it ideal for projects with a revenue-raising element, such as toll crossings

The Conservatives want to entice the private sector to plug a £130bn infrastructure gap in London. For example, many of Britain's railways are antiquated and could well do with reinvestment (Getty)

The Conservatives are plotting a US-style trust to entice the private sector to plug a £130bn infrastructure gap in London.

Gareth Bacon, the Conservative budget spokesman in the Greater London Authority, will hand a report to Mayor Boris Johnson outlining his plans to use private investors as “silent partners” on big construction projects.

Business would share financial returns with the state, making it ideal for projects with a revenue-raising element, such as toll crossings. This is modelled on a system set up in Chicago in 2012.

Mr Bacon wants to pilot the idea on the proposed Silvertown Tunnel from Greenwich under the River Thames, which is estimated to cost £750m and would ease congestion in east London.