The Cones Hotline was a telephonehotline introduced by the Prime Minister of the United KingdomJohn Major in June 1992 to allow members of the public to enquire about roadworks on the country's roads and report areas where traffic cones had been deployed on a road (to close a lane or otherwise restrict traffic flow) for no apparent reason. The telephone number for the hotline (originally 0345 504030, later 08457 504030) was usually displayed on signs after sections of roadworks.
The hotline was widely seen as being a waste of government resources, costing several thousand pounds per year to run. In September 1995, having fielded a total of fewer than 20,000 calls, it was announced that the hotline would gradually be wound down.[1]
The hotline continued after this date, with a broader remit, and renamed as the Highways Agency Information Line or HAIL. The Highways Agency was another of Major's innovations, having been formed not long before, in 1994. The hotline was one of the first to move to the new local-rate 0845 numbers in 1996. In 2010, the Highways Agency announced the two year phase out of the 0845 number in favour of a new number, 0300 1235000. The change was to take advantage of cost savings offered by 0300 numbers. For callers, the 0300 number was treated the same as a typical geographic phone number (starting with 01 or 02) in pricing schemes by all phone companies, including mobile phones. Under the 0845 number, some charged extra to call the number. Additionally, Highways England's per minute fee on each call was now capped at 5p.[2]
Referencesedit
^Christian Wolmar (19 September 1995). "Cones Hotline put into cold storage". The Independent. London.
^. wired-gov.net. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
March 05, 2024
cones, hotline, telephone, hotline, introduced, prime, minister, united, kingdom, john, major, june, 1992, allow, members, public, enquire, about, roadworks, country, roads, report, areas, where, traffic, cones, been, deployed, road, close, lane, otherwise, re. The Cones Hotline was a telephone hotline introduced by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom John Major in June 1992 to allow members of the public to enquire about roadworks on the country s roads and report areas where traffic cones had been deployed on a road to close a lane or otherwise restrict traffic flow for no apparent reason The telephone number for the hotline originally 0345 504030 later 08457 504030 was usually displayed on signs after sections of roadworks Cones on the A45 in Coventry July 2006 The hotline was widely seen as being a waste of government resources costing several thousand pounds per year to run In September 1995 having fielded a total of fewer than 20 000 calls it was announced that the hotline would gradually be wound down 1 The hotline continued after this date with a broader remit and renamed as the Highways Agency Information Line or HAIL The Highways Agency was another of Major s innovations having been formed not long before in 1994 The hotline was one of the first to move to the new local rate 0845 numbers in 1996 In 2010 the Highways Agency announced the two year phase out of the 0845 number in favour of a new number 0300 1235000 The change was to take advantage of cost savings offered by 0300 numbers For callers the 0300 number was treated the same as a typical geographic phone number starting with 01 or 02 in pricing schemes by all phone companies including mobile phones Under the 0845 number some charged extra to call the number Additionally Highways England s per minute fee on each call was now capped at 5p 2 References edit Christian Wolmar 19 September 1995 Cones Hotline put into cold storage The Independent London New phone number for Highways Agency Information Line makes savings all round wired gov net 10 June 2010 Archived from the original on 1 April 2020 Retrieved 1 April 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cones Hotline amp oldid 1211595304, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
