Media centre

Monday 1 Jun 2009

NETWORK RAIL DELIVERS BETTER PLANNED IMPROVEMENT WORK

Region & Route:

National

Network Rail has made "real improvements" and has delivered a "notable achievement" in the way it now carries out the planning and execution of its major improvement work.

This is the view of the company's regulator, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), following Network Rail's root and branch review of the way it plans and carries out major project and engineering work following the New Year over-runs some 18 months ago.

Following the over-runs at Rugby, Liverpool Street and Glasgow in January 2008 the company undertook a detailed and thorough review of what had gone wrong and was determined to learn lessons and make changes to prevent a repetition.

The ORR issued an order in April 2008 requiring the company to make changes to the planning and management of engineering work and last week wrote to the company to confirm that the order had been lifted and its requirements met. Bill Emery, chief executive of the ORR in a letter to the company said:

"We recognise that in responding to those events [January 2008 over-runs] and to our enforcement action Network Rail has committed itself to making real improvement, which has involved a significant change management effort over the last year. This is a notable achievement."

Iain Coucher, Network Rail's chief executive said: "We let passengers and our customers down badly some 18 months ago and I have implemented changes throughout the company to prevent a repetition.

"Since then over £4.5bn has been invested in the Network in over 5,000 projects across the country with big concentrations of work on 12 separate bank holidays, all delivered to time and budget.

Over the coming five years Network Rail will be investing over £20bn in renewing and expanding the rail network, increasing capacity and relieving overcrowding. A significant part of this work includes reducing the impact of major improvement work.

Using innovation and new technology Network Rail be able to reduce the time it takes to do major engineering tasks thus moving work to shorter overnight jobs rather than at weekends and during bank holidays. Network Rail has also signed the Passenger Focus pledge and committed to make buses the option of last resort when planning alternative travel arrangements around improvement work.