Wednesday 16 Oct 2013
Network Rail signs new five-year rail supply deal
- Region & Route:
- National
Network Rail has signed a deal with three steel manufacturers to supply rail for the next five years as the company continues its work to renew and enhance Britain’s 20,000 miles of railway.
The largest part – about 95 per cent – of the framework agreement will see Tata Steel’s Scunthorpe plant supply around 140,000 tons of rail per year, depending on consumption. ArcelorMittal and VoestAlpine are also part of the deal, which will see a variety of rail types supplied to keep Network Rail’s programme of improvements rolling for the next five years with an option to extend for a further five years.
On signing the contracts, Patrick Butcher, Network Rail’s group finance director, said: "We are renewing and enhancing more and more of Britain's railway over the next five years and it's crucial that we have a trusted and secure supply chain to help us achieve that safely and efficiently."
Network Rail’s plans for control period 5 (2014-19) include £10bn of core renewals and a further £10bn of enhancements.
Henrik Adam, chief commercial officer of Tata Steel, said: “This is fantastic news. I am delighted the rail network in Britain will continue to be made and maintained with our UK rail.”
The latest Network Rail deal will account for around 5% of the annual steel output from Tata Steel’s Scunthorpe site and will include some of the latest, harder-wearing high performance rail.
Notes to editors
Rail supplied by Network Rail’s contractors will range from the common CEN60 and CEN 56 types, to conductor rail and even old-style bullhead.
Since April 2009 Network Rail has worked with 6,223 suppliers, more than 40 per cent of which are small and medium sized enterprises
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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.
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