Network Rail Plans £37.5bn Investment

Network Rail has committed to the biggest investment in infrastructure since the Victorian era.

Network Rail plans to spend £37.5bn on running and expanding Britain’s railway over the five years to 2019.

If approved, this investment in new infrastructure will make a real difference by boosting capacity at key pinch points on the network, providing 170,000 extra commuter seats at peak times by 2019. However, even this will not be enough on the busy West Coast Main Line, where the added capacity that HS2 will provide is essential both for the future of the railway and the economic prosperity of the country.

The plan also sets out the need to future-proof critical infrastructure against the impact of changing weather patterns, including more frequent flooding, and to enable more rail freight by upgrading strategic routes to accommodate bigger freight containers.

David Higgins, Network Rail chief executive, said: "One million more trains run every year than ten years ago, more passengers arrive on time than ever before, our safety record is one of the best in Europe and, despite the daily challenges we face, customer satisfaction is at record levels. Successive governments have made this possible by looking beyond the short term and recognising the critical importance of the railway to Britain's future.

"As our railway gets busier the challenges get bigger and more complex. We have entered an era of trade-offs. Increasingly we have to balance the need to build more infrastructure, run trains on time and cut costs, and in many areas choices will need to be made.”

Tim O’Toole, chairman of the Rail Delivery Group, said: "We are moving forward together as an industry, which is a significant development, but at the end of the day passengers and freight users must see the value in our efforts. That means satisfying the demands for more capacity but also the demands for value for money. The latter will only be met by achieving greater efficiency and better service for everyone who uses and pays for our railway."

(GK)