NETWORK RAIL RESPONDS TO ORR COMMENTS ON PERFORMANCE ON THE WESTERN ROUTE: High output ballast cleaner

Wednesday 26 Mar 2008

NETWORK RAIL RESPONDS TO ORR COMMENTS ON PERFORMANCE ON THE WESTERN ROUTE

Region & Route:
National

Network Rail spokesperson said: "Performance on the Western Route is improving - 14% better than last year and almost 26% better since Network Rail took over the infrastructure in 2002. But that improvement lags behind the rest of the country which is why we are working with First Great Western to make further improvements.

"We are undertaking extensive investment along the route, including a £750 million renewals programme, reducing the amount of temporary speed restrictions and working on the redevelopment of Reading Station to reduce the bottleneck.

"Both partners recognise we have a big task ahead of us and we’re fully focussed on delivering a better service for passengers and freight along this vital rail artery."

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