Thursday 2 Oct 2003
NETWORK RAIL FIRST ANNIVERSARY - ‘FOCUS ON IMPROVEMENTS CONTINUES’
- Region & Route:
- National
- Performance enhancement unit established and tasked to deliver punctuality improvements ahead of business plan targets
- ‘Six sigma’ management techniques being introduced to understand root causes of delay – over 500 staff trained
- Autumn preparedness taskforce set up to target resources and planning to help to combat annual seasonal performance dip
- 10 year Business Plan published in March, describing ‘ageing and fragile’ network and 4000 mile track renewal backlog
- Efficiency Improvement Programme published in June targeting £1.3 billion annual cost savings by 2006/7, equivalent to 20% costs or £5.5bn saving
- Interim Review of track access charges underway, working closely with Office of Rail Regulator and Strategic Rail Authority
- Network Rail Cost Submission published in September proposing £24.5 billion expenditure over 5 years (2004-2009) – a further £5bn saving
- Reading maintenance contract successfully taken back in-house (2 months early), Wessex (5 months early) and East Midlands (14 months early) to follow
- New Maintenance Programme being rolled out nationwide – Network Rail, not the contractor, to determine what work is done, where and when
- Fundamental change in approach to maintenance, from ‘find and fix’ to ‘predict and prevent’
- New Measurement Train introduced - 125 mph automated track inspection, track geometry, conditional and ride information, video recording
- Over £200 million invested in new plant and machinery including a new fleet of rail grinders, stoneblowers, ballast cleaning trains, Multi-Purpose Vehicles and a high output plain line track renewal train ordered
- Asset register (MIMS) being actively implemented across the country - due to complete early next year
- Common organisational structure introduced across the UK affecting over 8,000 staff. Day to day operation split into seven regions and 18 area delivery groups to give greater local control and accountability
- Seven clear corporate objectives established, detailed actions plans introduced to deliver improved performance
- New property board established to bring specialist knowledge, expertise and experience
- Network Rail ‘Railway Estates’ created to align property interests with core railway operations, new senior management team
- Total headcount reduction of 2000 within three years
- Record levels of track renewed – around 950 miles of track
- Record levels of ballast, 2.7 million tonnes, delivered to thousands of work-sites across the country
- Record numbers of switch and crossing units delivered – over 1,800
- Railtrack released from Special Railway Administration at midnight on 2 October, 2002
- Signal design taken back in-house to ensure greater cost effectiveness of new signalling projects
- Train Protection and Warning System installed at 97% of signals - project on time and on budget
- £4 billion euro commercial paper programme and US commercial paper program signed
- Management Incentive Plan introduced linking executive pay to passenger interests – train performance
- Partnerships established with Freight Operating Companies to jointly improve train performance
- West Coast Route Modernisation project re-scoped in conjunction with the SRA – delivery phase nearing completion
- Southern Power upgrade scoped and underway including over 500 miles of cabling to be replaced, 160 substations and 146 transformers.
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 - National
020 3356 8700
mediarelations@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.
Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk