Media centre

Friday 17 Oct 2003

NETWORK RAIL RESPONSE TO RAIL REGULATOR’S DRAFT CONCLUSIONS

Region & Route:

National

Network Rail today welcomes the contribution from the Rail Regulator to the ongoing interim review process. Over the past months the process has demonstrated the close working relationship between the parties, with the appointment of joint consultants and an unprecedented degree of cooperation. Network Rail’s initial business plan in March forecast five-year expenditure of £35bn. Following intensive work to improve efficiency and adjust the required outputs this forecast was reduced to £24.5bn by September.  However, we also highlighted the fact that further work was still required in some areas and that important choices still needed to be made about the rate at which the renewals backlog should be addressed.   The Regulator has concluded that an appropriate level of expenditure would be £22.7bn. Network Rail chief executive John Armitt said: “The further efficiency targets that the Regulator has set out will be challenging, but we will be looking in the coming weeks to see how these further savings may be achieved and to understand the implications for performance and asset condition. We look forward to responding fully to the document in due course.”