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Tuesday 3 Apr 2007

HOME COUNTIES TO BENEFIT FROM £2.4 BILLION RAIL EXPANSION PROGRAMME

Region & Route:

| Southern

A £2.4bn programme of rail expansion was unveiled by Network Rail today as it outlined its spending plans over the next two years with more than £200m planned for the London North East Route which runs from Kings Cross through Hertfordshire and Peterborough. Hundreds of platforms will be lengthened, new platforms added, new tracks laid, line speeds raised and capacity added through major resignalling schemes.

Unveiling the plans, Network Rail's Chief Executive, John Armitt, said: "The railway is thriving. Demand for rail continues to grow and today's news outlines Network Rail's response to those demands. "Three million people are using the railways each day, more than at any time in the past 60 years, and we're not standing still waiting for the big infrastructure projects to be delivered. We are doing something about it now by moving forward with hundreds of small schemes dotted around the country that will add capacity and ease crowding. "For the first time on record, over £1bn per year will be spent on expanding and growing the railway network. This, more than anything, shows how the needs of today's railway are shifting. We will never lose sight of the imperative to run a safe and reliable railway each and every day, but responding to the challenge of growth becomes a more important priority for the company." Over the next two years Network Rail is more than doubling the average annual investment on enhancement schemes - over £1.2bn per year. Not since well before privatisation (British Rail did not record enhancement spending) has so much money been invested in expanding the capacity of the network. Over the past 12 years, annual average spending on such schemes has been around £500m. Between April 2007 and March 2009, Network Rail will carry out £2.44bn worth of enhancement work with £1.73bn directly funded by Network Rail. The remaining £713m will be financed by other stakeholders, such as the Department for Transport, Transport Scotland, Welsh Assembly Government, Passenger Transport Executives, local authorities, port authorities train operators and freight groups. Network Rail is working on over 900 individual schemes. Here are just some examples of the schemes on the southern section of the LNE route that will be delivered or will get underway over the next two years: (in alphabetical order): Figures in brackets are current Network Rail spend profile value over next 2yrs.

• Cambridge and Kings Cross - platform extensions and power strengthening works between the stations (£5m)
• Cricklewood property development – Major mixed use redevelopment involving improved station facilities (£1.054m)
• Fletton Line speed improvements – Improving journey times by higher line speeds (£0.085m)
• Hitchin Grade Separation – Improving capacity and performance by providing a new flyover over the East Coast Main Line for trains travelling to Cambridge (£1.76m)
• Huntingdon North Crossovers - Enhancing the capacity by improving the speed by which Freight trains transfer onto the slow lines (£0.84m)
• Peterborough Station Development - Major mixed use redevelopment involving improved station facilities (£1.38m)
• Royston, Huntingdon and St. Neots - additional car park spaces at these stations (£0.81m)
• St Albans Station Enhancements – Investment in station facilities (£0.1m)
• St Neots Station development - New station crossing that is DDA compliant (£1.32m)

Network Rail continues to take forward the massive infrastructure and enhancement projects that have yet to receive full funding approval. The Thameslink upgrade programme remains a key priority with work continuing on redevelopment plans for Birmingham New Street and Reading. Mr Armitt concluded: "We are taking action now to expand the rail network and help relieve crowding on the network. But we want to do even more and will be outlining in the autumn our longer terms plans for even more growth and expansion on Britain’s thriving railway."