Sunday 20 Jul 2008
NETWORK RAIL RESPONDS TO TRANSPORT SELECT COMMITTEE REPORT
- Region & Route:
- National
The Transport Select Committee will issue its report on Monday into the Government’s 30 year strategy for the railways.
Accompanying the report is a press release focussing on the Committee’s view of the white paper but it also makes reference to Network Rail.
Commenting on the report, Network Rail’s Chief Executive, Iain Coucher, said: “We are disappointed by the comments in the Transport Select Committee report which do no reflect the pivotal role Network Rail has played in turning around the railway from the mess inherited from Railtrack.
“The railway is now performing at the highest levels of punctuality ever recorded and it is passengers and freight users who are benefiting from this turnaround.
“Our 34,000 people have worked diligently with our industry partners to deliver a better railway. That joint effort has also delivered for passengers, who have shown their confidence in us and returned to the railway in their millions.
“The cost of running the railway has been cut by over £2bn under Network Rail’s stewardship and investment is at record levels.
“Since New Year we have invested over £2bn in thousands of projects across the country applying the lessons from the unacceptable over-runs at New Year.
“These are the results of a successful company and we are determined to continue with our job to build a bigger and better railway.”
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
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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.
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