Cycling will be treated as a “legitimate form of transport” for the first time, campaigners said

Cyclists will take centre stage in Britain’s transport network after plans were drawn up for the first government safe cycling budget.

After decades of being sidelined as the poor relation to roads and railways, cycling will be treated as a “legitimate form of transport”, campaigners said.

The move marks a significant victory for The Times’s Cities Fit for Cycling campaign, which has, since 2012, called on the government to invest long-term in safe cycle routes as a means of reducing congestion and reaping up to £6 billion a year in health benefits.

Under pressure from charities, MPs and this newspaper, the government has added an amendment to the Infrastructure Bill, due for final scrutiny in the House of Lords on Monday. It is designed