New £38bn investment programme will boost capacity and improve punctuality on Britain's trains, Network Rail says
Tens of thousands of rush hour commuters will no longer be forced to stand on packed trains, Network Rail has pledged as it announced plans to increase capacity at peak times.
An extra 170,000 seats are to be provided over the next five years, with the Crossrail and Thameslink projects in London due for completion and hundreds more trains to run each day between major cities in the north.
Further capacity will be squeezed out of the network by lengthening more trains and adjusting timetables, while more than 850 miles (1,350km) of railway is to be electrified, including the Great Western Main Line from Maidenhead to Swansea.
Hundreds of stations will also be upgraded including London Bridge, Manchester Victoria, Birmingham New Street and Glasgow Queen Street.
The improvements are detailed in a new investment plan launched by Network Rail, which operates Britain’s railways, detailing how it will spend £38bn of funding over the next five years.
Under the plan more than 4,350 miles (7,000km) of track will be renewed and 500 level crossings removed, while bosses have been tasked with cutting the cost of running the railway network by 20 per cent.
As part of the funding agreement Network Rail will commit to running 92.5 per cent of services on time – the same target it was set five years ago and has failed to meet.
The Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday that currently only 89.9 per cent of trains are arriving on schedule, with the Office of Rail Regulationlikely to penalise Network Rail for the failure with a £70m fine.
Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail, told the Telegraph an unexpected surge in passengers in recent years had caught the operator off guard and caused punctuality to fall due to increased congestion on the network.
“We are a victim of our own success. The railway is growing at a tremendous speed,” he said. “But I think we have got a strong plan for further capacity and increasing reliability.
“This is a golden age for the railway really. After a century of underinvestment and decline we have absolutely turned a corner.”
He added that the recent terrible weather has played a major part in the poor punctuality, and said a key focus would be improving the resilience of key parts of the network to extreme conditions.
Asked whether Network Rail executives would forego their bonuses this year in the wake of poor punctuality and criticism of the authority’s safety record by MPs, Mr Carne said no decision had been taken.
“It is a decision for the remuneration committee,” he said. “It will be important to recognise that over the last few years there have been huge improvements in safety … today we have the safest level crossings in Europe.”
Richard Price, chief executive of the Office of Rail Regulation, said the multi-billion pound investment plan would make a “massive difference” for passengers, and that the regulator would be “scrutinising progress closely”.
Michael Roberts, Director General of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the rail industry, added: “Today marks the next stage in a long term multi billion investment programme that is transforming the railway for the better, delivering improved services for passengers and businesses”.
Network Rail has confirmed that Devon and Cornwall will be reconnected to the rail network on Friday after two months of work to rebuild the line at Dawlish, which was severely damaged during storms this winter.
The planned opening had been threatened when 20,000 tonnes of cliff-face collapsed in a landslip nearby at Teignmouth on March 4, but this has since been cleared.
Source...telegraph
INFORMATION CENTER - www.informationcenter.co.in
