Media centre

Tuesday 4 Apr 2006

NETWORK RAIL LAUNCHES 2006 BUSINESS PLAN:

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

• BEST TRAIN PUNCTUALITY FOR SIX YEARS • £400 MILLION NEW MONEY TO GROW THE RAILWAY Network Rail today announces an extra £400 million to be spent on growing the railway, following a massive 30% reduction in delays since the creation of the company. Network Rail Chief Executive, John Armitt, said: “Our 2006 Business Plan sets out Network Rail’s ambitious agenda for growing the railway.  Make no mistake – our plans are for a better-performing and more efficient rail network, meeting the aspirations of our customers.” Network Rail’s new money for funding enhancements over the next three years has been made possible as a result of the company beating its targets.  This money will be reinvested in the rail network rather than given to shareholders due to Network Rail’s status as a company limited by guarantee. The new cash pot will fund or part-fund enhancements that will deliver benefits for passengers and freight, helping to grow the railway. Highlights of the 2006 Business Plan:

• £400m additional investment to grow the railway
  • £200m government-funded Network Rail Discretionary Fund, plus;

o        £200m of Network Rail’s own money that it is investing in growing the network

• A projected increase in trains-on-time to 87.6% by March 2007, a substantial increase from 78.6% when Network Rail was created.

o        Over the last year, 86.4% of trains ran on time ·         A projected fall in delays of 800,000 minutes over the next year, on top of the 4,100,000 minute reduction since Network Rail took over ·         36% increase on  renewals investment over next three years compared to last three - £7.2 billion vs £5.4 billion

• Ambitious plans to create better stations for passengers, including plans for the largest stations such as Euston, Victoria and Waterloo as well as “station clusters” proposals to invest in improvements at smaller stations

·         Over the last three years some £355 million has been taken out of operating and maintaining the network

• By end of the control period (2008/9) we will have reduced the cost of operating and maintaining the network by over £600 million
• 22% reduction in unit costs of renewals will have been delivered by March 2007

  John Armitt said: “Network Rail’s strong performance, focus on value for money and status as a company limited by guarantee has allowed us to free up £200 million of new money to spend on growing the railway.  This will be spent on the passengers’ priorities and meeting the needs of our freight customers. We look forward to working with train and freight operators, and other stakeholders, to determine how it can be best spent.” The Business Plan sets out total expenditure on enhancing the network of £2.7bn over the next three years, on top of the £1.3bn enhancement spend in the last two years. There has also been heavy investment by other parts of the rail industry with nearly £5bn invested in rolling stock over recent years This investment will help to support the ever-growing customer demand, with 42% growth in passenger numbers and 58% growth in freight tonnes kilometres over the last ten years and an increase in demand of 30% over the next ten years predicted The Business Plan 2006 also reveals that in the past year: ·         86.4% of trains ran on time, compared with 83.6 % last year – the best performance for six years ·         Network Rail delay minutes were down to 10.6 million, almost one million fewer than last year – and massive 4.1 million better than when Network Rail took control in 2002 – an improvement of 30%

• A third more rail, sleepers and ballast have been renewed than last year – around 720 miles of new rail, over 530 miles of new ballast and in excess of 650 new sets of points

   John Armitt concluded: “In the last three years we have focussed on getting all the basics right: creating the right structure; improving performance; controlling and reducing costs; developing our people; and being safe in everything we do. I would like to thank our industry partners for their support over this time and look forward to continuing to work with them as we focus our efforts on working together to deliver a growing railway that meets needs of the country.” “Network Rail is now looking forward, looking for new, innovative, and value for money ways to grow the railway to accommodate increasing passenger and freight demand.”