Media centre

Thursday 1 Nov 2007

NETWORK RAIL PUBLISHES THE STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN - A FIVE YEAR VISION FOR BRITAIN'S RAILWAY

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National

Network Rail today issued the Strategic Business Plan which outlines its spending proposals for the five-year period from 2009 to 2014. The document forms part of the company's ongoing discussions with the Office of Rail Regulation about its funding requirements for the period. The plan details what the company and its industry partners believe is required to grow and expand the railway to respond to the increasing demand for rail travel from both passengers and freight users. Highlights of the five year plan include:

• More than doubling current spending levels on rail expansion schemes - £9.6bn ('09 to '14) compared to £4.3bn ('04 to '09)
• A proposal to provide over 100,000 extra seats every day in around 1,700 extra carriages
• Continuing to improve the punctuality of all train services to over 92% by 2014
• Making the railway more efficient - over the 10 years to 2014 the costs of running the railway will be almost halved
• £11.4bn investment over the period on renewing track, signals, structures and stations
• £10.4bn spend on maintenance and day-to-day operating costs

Iain Coucher, Chief Executive, said: "More and more people are using our railways. We, and the industry as a whole, recognise that this success brings new and exciting challenges. "Growth and expansion is where we will focus our efforts in the years ahead and today's plan highlights a raft of small, medium and large expansion schemes that will provide passengers and freight users with a bigger, better railway that delivers more trains, more seats, more often. "Delivering a safe, punctual and reliable railway each and every day will always stay at the core of our business." George Muir, Director General of the Association of Train Operating Companies, added: "A better railway able to carry more people in comfort is urgently required. Passengers want it and if we can get people out of their cars it will be good for the environment. This plan shows how we will do it. It is a good plan and we will work together to develop it further before it is finalised next April." Today's plan forms part of the ongoing review by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) of Network Rail's prospective spending budget for the period from 2009 to 2014. This is an iterative and continuing process that will not be concluded until this time next year. The plan looks forward to Network Rail's next five-year funding period and is built on the firm foundation achieved by the rail industry over the past five years:

• Nearly 90% of trains now run on time on a daily basis (only 78% ran on time in 2002)
• The number of late or cancelled trains has been halved compared to five years ago
• Over £1bn has been cut from the cost of running the rail network
• Rail is now the safest form of transport, pushing air travel into second place
• More people are using trains than at any time since 1946 (1.147bn passenger journeys, 130m more journeys than in France)
• The UK has Europe's fastest growing railway - nearly 45% passenger and 50% freight growth since 1996

Details from the Strategic Business Plan Costs: An important part of the plan is Network Rail's continued drive to reduce costs and make the railways more efficient.

• In the 10 years to 2014 Network Rail plans to reduce the costs of running the network by nearly a half
• During the period ('09 to '14) the cost of running the network will have been cut by £800m a year compared to today

Expansion schemes: The plan includes all of the of the key rail projects that have already been announced and attracted funding from the Department for Transport. There are also many other potential smaller schemes that aim to increase capacity by, for example, lengthening platforms and trains. These schemes have been identified through careful analysis and discussion with train operators and third parties. Key projects

• The Thameslink upgrade programme £2,589m
• Reading station area redevelopment £455m
• King's Cross remodelling £153m
• Birmingham New Street station development £134m

Other schemes

• A special fund for small improvement schemes £234m
• National stations improvement scheme £156m

Scotland schemes: Working with and funded by Transport Scotland, Network Rail has also identified expansion schemes to benefit passengers and freight users in Scotland, including:

• Glasgow airport link £170m
• Airdrie to Bathgate - new railway project £145m

Freight Schemes: There are a number of specific freight schemes aimed at making rail more competitive and removing thousands of lorry journeys per year off roads:

• Peterborough to Nuneaton gauge enhancement £70m
• Southampton to the West Coast 'big-box' scheme £33m
• Cross London gauge and capacity improvements £7m

A greener railway: Rail is already a green form of travel but making rail travel more attractive, accessible and affordable. It will make a significant contribution to meeting society's growing environmental challenge. Included in the strategic business plan are a host of specific initiatives that Network Rail can take forward to boost rail's green credentials, including:

• A move to use renewable energy sources to power electric trains
• Introducing light-weight trains that are track- and environmentally-friendly
• Recovering, recycling or reusing at least 80% of waste generated at offices, stations and depots
• A target to reduce the company's carbon footprint by 20% during 2009-14

Iain Coucher concluded: "Our vision is one shared by our industry partners. It is to deliver a railway where passengers have a safe, reliable, comfortable and environmentally-friendly train service. A railway where passengers can travel when they want to, through stations that are modern, clean and secure with accurate information. All at a price that they and the country can afford. "We want to provide a railway that people want to use. This industry plan can do just that, meeting Government priorities as well as the needs of passengers and freight users. "The money that we invest now will reap huge benefits and will make rail the travel option of choice. Rarely before has the country had such a great opportunity to improve rail services for the benefit of our industry partners, users of the railway, taxpayers and the economy as a whole."