Media centre

Monday 31 Mar 2014

East Midlands set to benefit from £multi-billion five-year rail investment programme

Region & Route:

Rail passengers in the East Midlands can look forward to more trains, more seats, reduced congestion and bigger, better stations as Network Rail embarks on its next five year investment programme.

The ambitious plan will see the busiest parts of the rail network in the East Midlands transformed by investment that will make a tangible improvement to people’s lives and significantly boost the economy.

By 2019 16% more passengers are expected to be travelling on the network. Demand for rail freight is predicted to increase by 23%. To meet that demand, Network Rail and its industry partners will deliver a programme of investment worth £1.6 billion in the East Midlands.

Phil Verster, Route Managing Director for Network Rail, said: “Our railway is a vital part of our national infrastructure. Rail services connect homes and workplaces, businesses and markets; they create jobs, stimulate trade and support the growth of a balanced economy.

“Passenger numbers in the East Midlands are expected to increase by 16% by 2019. Our investment plans are crucial to making sure we can meet that demand whilst maintaining a safe and reliable service and making the improvements in performance passengers rightly expect.”

Investments in the East Midlands include:

• Electrification of the Midland Main Line, reducing the cost of running the railway and reducing carbon emissions. Electrification will reach Corby at the end of 2017 with Nottingham and Derby to follow at the end of 2019 and Sheffield at the end of 2020
• Improvements in the Derby area to remove a bottleneck allowing more services to run and improvements to journey times
• Projects to allow more services to run on the routes between Bedford and Kettering, and Kettering and Corby

David Horne, Managing Director of East Midlands Trains said: "This is a massive programme of investment that is vital to ensure the railway keeps pace with the further expected growth in passenger numbers and delivers the performance our customers deserve.

"But it's not just about big numbers. Projects like electrification of the Midland mainline, journey time improvements and steps to allow more trains to run on key routes will make a huge practical difference for people and businesses in our region who depend on the railway.

"We will be working closely with Network Rail to get the most out of the investment for our customers and the economy, and to equip Britain with a railway fit for decades to come."

Key elements of the infrastructure (track, signals bridges etc) will also be replaced and renewed. The plans include extensive investment in earthworks and drainage to make the route more resilient in times of extreme weather.

Mr Verster said: “Extreme weather is an increasingly frequent threat to our network, as we have seen with St Jude’s storm last year and the heavy rain and flooding of 2012. We have robust plans to target the most vulnerable parts of our route to improve resilience and make sure we are doing everything possible to keep services running whatever the weather.”

Finally, speaking about the fundamentally important areas of safety and train performance, Mr Verster added: “The safety of everyone who comes into contact with the railway, whether as a passenger, worker or user of a level crossing remains of the utmost importance. We will continue to close level crossings where possible and make improvements when closure is not an option.

“At the same time, along with our colleagues in the train operators, we are committed to make significant improvements in the number of trains which run on time. We are running more trains than ever before and performance remains a tough challenge. Our investment programme over the next five years will help to address the issues of congestion and ageing infrastructure to help drive up train performance.”