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Wednesday 31 Mar 2004

NETWORK RAIL PUBLISHES 2004 BUSINESS PLAN

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National

- A CLEAR PLAN FOR A BETTER RAILWAY - Network Rail today unveils its 2004 business plan, which highlights unprecedented investment and a clear plan for improving Britain’s railway.  Over the next five years the company will spend some £26 billion to deliver a safe, reliable and value for money railway. The 2004 Business Plan is the first based on a fixed and certain level of income and gives the Business stability and a clear direction.  It sets out a detailed blueprint for improving performance and reducing costs through a huge programme of action and activity.  It demonstrates how Network Rail will spend £14 million each day on operating, maintaining, renewing and enhancing the network to deliver the maximum benefit for Britain’s rail users. The plan details Network Rail’s commitment to achieving better than pre-Hatfield levels before the end of 2006.  Whilst this is already the case in parts of the country on some days and weeks, the Company’s challenge is to do so consistently over a 12 month period.  Network Rail further shows how it will achieve consistent 90% train punctuality within five years.  John Armitt, Chief Executive, said: “This clear plan shows our commitment to deliver a better train service to the passenger through the enormous amount of activity and investment that will be pumped into Britain’s ageing railway infrastructure over the next five years.  “Everyday we will have over 20,000 rail workers out on the track rebuilding Britain’s railway.  Our job must be to ensure that we get the most out of every shovel-full, making every penny count in the delivery of a better, more reliable railway.” - more - Plan - 2 “The plan will build on the substantial achievements of the last 18 months.  Train punctuality has improved significantly and Network Rail delays have reduced.  We are not complacent.  We recognise the urgent need to improve the railway and that much remains to be done.  Network Rail relishes the challenge ahead as it forges a new railway that is better able to cope with the increasing demands placed upon it.” “We are determined to succeed.  It is through this unprecedented level of investment and activity, combined with the professionalism and dedication of our people and suppliers, that we can look forward to a better railway for our customers and the passenger.” John Armitt added: “We’re spending and investing more that ever before because we’re doing more.  It’s an enormous task to put right the years of under-investment that has left us with an ageing and fragile network.” Over the next five years Network Rail will be undertaking a huge amount of work on the network, some of the highlights include:- ·        An average of almost 1 ½ miles of track will be replaced every single day over the next five years – enough track to take you from London to the Great Pyramids ·        Enough sleepers will be replaced over the next five years that if placed end to end would reach to Australia ·        13.5 million tonnes of ballast will be replaced over the next five years – the equivalent weight of almost 200 QE2s ·        Doubling the track along the Lichfield Trent Valley as part of the West Coast Main Line upgrade to increase capacity ·        Delivery of the new September 2004 West Coast timetable offering faster more frequent services – already some 200 miles of the West Coast Main Line now 125 mph capable ·        New platforms at Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton stations and improvements to facilities such as toilets, CCTV and new information systems at hundreds of others ·        Power supply upgrade to be completed in Southern England to enable the introduction of new trains  – over 650 have already been introduced ·        Major renewals and other significant work at locations across the South – Brighton mainline, Wimbledon-Sutton, Waterloo-Vauxhall, Hastings, Richmond, Clapham Junction, Kingston ·        Major renewal work at King’s Cross, Hitchin, Peterborough, Doncaster including signalling, track and overhead line equipment - more - Plan - 4 ·        Significant renewals for the Derby area, around St Pancras and commissioning of the Cherwell Valley resignalling scheme ·        Major works for the west of England and Wales – in and around Bristol, Taunton, Slough, Barry, Bridgend, Port Talbot John Armitt added: “The benefits of all this work can only be achieved by our people and the successful integration of some 18,000 maintenance workers.  Our people have risen to the challenges magnificently and it is through their hard work, ideas and innovations that we can continue to rebuild Britain’s railway.” Performance continues to improve and by the end of the year (financial) Network Rail expects to deliver around an 8 ½% improvement on last year.  Where maintenance has come in-house the reduction in delays is striking with the Reading area showing a 41% fall over the past five months and since taking Wessex area in-house in November, delays attributed to Network Rail have dropped by 19%. We expect, with the help of train operators, to exceed pre-Hatfield performance levels by the end of 2006 and continue to press for better and faster performance improvements at every  opportunity: Some of the new initiatives and innovations that will contribute towards making Network Rail a high performing company include: ·        Completing the next phase of the Train Protection and Warning System – TPWS+, which stops trains at risk from passing red signals at up to 100mph.  This will be installed at some 400+ signals on high speed lines over the next 18 months. ·        Establishment of two brand new signaller training schools that will use world leading signalling simulators and other teaching aids. ·        Man-in-a-van initiative – over £1 million investment in a total of seven vans and around 20 people, spread across the country, who work directly for our community relations department responding in real-time to issues such as over hanging vegetation, fence repairs, and clearing fly tipping sites. John Armitt concluded by saying: “The 2004 Business Plan marks the next phase of Network Rail’s task of rebuilding Britain’s railway.  It gives us certainty about the future, where we can look forward to sustained high levels of investment and increased activity levels, that will lead to a more reliable, better railway for our customers and rail users.”