Customers at the heart of Network Rail’s five-year proposed plan for Wales and Borders

Tuesday 13 Feb 2018

Customers at the heart of Network Rail’s five-year proposed plan for Wales and Borders

Region & Route:: Wales & Western: Wales & Borders; | Wales & Western

Network Rail in Wales and Borders has announced its five-year spending proposals to improve the railway at a local level, benefitting as many passengers as possible.

The £1billion+ plan for 2019-2024 (Control Period 6, CP6) builds on the transformation of Network Rail that began in CP5. Following the Network Rail devolution process, the plan is the first developed by Wales and Borders and is the result of regular engagement with stakeholders across the route.

The publication of the Strategic Business Plan (SBP) is a major milestone in the ongoing process to determine Network Rail’s funding requirements for the five years to 2024 (CP6). The plan represents Network Rail’s initial, but detailed view, following the publication of Governments' (England & Wales and Scotland) high level output specifications (HLOS) and statements of funds available (SoFA). The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will now review the plan and make a draft determination of Network Rail’s funding needs in June, and a final determination in the autumn.

Since 2014 (CP5), £900 million has been invested across the route. Flagship schemes, including the resignalling of the Cardiff area, have resulted in significant performance improvements and unlocked infrastructure capacity. Passengers will soon benefit from the North Wales Coast resignalling project, which will improve the resilience and reliability of the railway.

Andy Thomas, route managing director for Network Rail in Wales and Borders, said: “Our customer-centric plan proposes record levels of expenditure for Wales and Borders. It sets out how we will continue to improve the railway and make it more reliable and cost efficient.

“The plan reflects our stakeholders’ collective objectives and supports economic growth, helping to connect people, businesses and communities. It includes the renewal of the iconic, Grade II listed Barmouth Viaduct and Phase 2 of the Port Talbot resignalling scheme, plus a significant number of diverse schemes to deliver as many benefits as possible for passengers at a local level.

“It is an exciting time for the railway in Wales and Borders. Our winning team of more than 1,600 employees, supported by a significant supply chain across Wales and Borders are dedicated to running a safe, reliable, affordable and growing railway. I am confident that by working with Transport for Wales, the new rail operator and our stakeholders we will deliver a better railway of which we can all be proud.”

Ken Skates, Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, said: “We look forward to working together to ensure we take every opportunity for delivering enhancements efficiently to realise capacity, journey time and reliability benefits for passengers.”

James Price, Chief Executive Officer, Transport for Wales, said: “We want the next rail service to lead to a significant improvement in people’s views and experiences of public transport in Wales and working closely with our partners is key to achieving this. We look forward to working with Network Rail to deliver the best possible service for customers, including importantly through increasing capacity and reliability.”

Tom Joyner, Managing Director for Arriva Trains Wales said: “Investment in our infrastructure is crucial to the long term future of the railway network in Wales and the Borders and we welcome the plans put forward for the years ahead. We’ve already seen how investment has helped us run more services, carry more passengers and deliver a more reliable service than ever before so we can look forward to some exciting times ahead.”

Notes to Editors

Notes to editor:

The Wales and Borders plan aims to deliver a safe, reliable, affordable and growing railway.
SBP documents are available to view here - www.networkrail.co.uk/strategicbusinessplan

A safer railway:

Network Rail’s passenger safety record means it already runs the safest major railway in Europe. In Wales and Borders, we have helped create a safer railway for communities through the full closure of 18 level crossings in the past five years. We will further reduce the risk to the public from level crossings in the most efficient way. We will continue to decrease railway trespass and prevent suicides, working with British Transport Police and the Samaritans.
Our workforce lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) reduced by 35% in CP5. We have an aspiration to reduce LTIFR in CP6 by 59% with a focus on technology and innovation, frontline leadership and behavioural change.

A more reliable railway:

Improved reliability is a priority for passengers and for Network Rail. We will use technology to remotely monitor the condition of the network and support our ‘predict and prevent’ approach to maintenance, to better prepare for any incidents that may arise.

An affordable railway:

During CP5 we have delivered 4% net efficiency on operating expenditure. In CP6 we will achieve a further 6.6% improvement through smarter working, better planning, more efficient use of the railway and better technology.

A growing railway:

Almost 50% more passenger journeys are made to, from and within Wales than a decade ago.
Between now and 2023 we forecast substantial growth in the number of commuters travelling to Cardiff and in the number of customers using the North Wales coast to North West England. Long distance markets from major centres across Wales into London will also see substantial growth
We anticipate significantly increased passenger service performance in the new franchise and additional capacity to accommodate the expected continued long-term growth in demand for rail services.

A workforce for the future:

Network Rail’s aim is to be one of Britain’s best employers by attracting, developing and retaining great people. We also aspire to create an environment within the route that will allow everybody to reach their full potential and support Network Rail’s commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive railway. We will reform welfare facilities for our frontline staff and tackle mental health and wellbeing. We will consolidate our apprenticeship and graduate programmes through early engagement with schools and colleges

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - Bryony Parry
Media Relations Manager
07734 649220
Bryony.Parry@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

Media centre