The party's rail privatisation envisaged the managed decline of rail travel. Aviation pretty much looked after itself.
How things have changed, not least because devolution has seen responsibility for most aspects of transport policy placed into the hands of politicians in Holyrood, Cardiff and Stormont.
Carrots and sticks
Across the UK the demand for travel is now huge, by train, plane and automobile.
Secondly, the impact on the environment is central to the challenge.
Yes, the Tories had to contend with Swampy and friends, but the need to cut carbon emissions now runs alongside and equal to the need to cater for growth.
There is more. What now appears to be a long-term rise in fuel prices adds extra policy pressure.