Network Rail transparency update

Friday 28 Nov 2014

Network Rail transparency update – November 2014

Region & Route:: National

Network Rail has today published new and updated information on its online transparency portal, including how much gas, electricity and water are used at its managed stations, spend on annual performance bonus and how the company manages vegetation growing along the railway.

Transparency is a key theme within Network Rail’s five-year strategic business plan. Being more open and accessible will make Network Rail more accountable to the travelling public, taxpayers and politicians.

Mark Farrow, head of transparency for Network Rail, said: "We're continuing to publish more data as part of our commitment to being more open and transparent. Publishing information like our approach to vegetation management or safety will help people understand what we do, how we do it and why.

“We know that being more transparent will help us become a better, more efficient and responsive organisation, and make us more accountable to the people who use and fund our network. We recognise that there is more to be done and we are committed to making transparency part of everything we do at Network Rail.”

New categories published today are:

Safety Health & Environmental Performance report
Vegetation management
Carbon and energy use
Transparency strategy
Lifesaving Rules breaches 2013/14
Health statistics 2013/14
Be Safe handbook
Spend on annual performance bonus
Staff salary breakdown in £20,000 bands
Technology and Innovation

The following information will also be updated:

Cable theft report
Gifts and hospitality register
Member’s expenses
Organogram
Progress and costs of high profile projects
Station footfall
Top 10 incidents
Lifesaving rules
Board agenda and minutes
Payment performance
Sourcing cycle times

Notes to editors

Network Rail’s transparency portal is www.networkrail.co.uk/transparency/

On 1 September 2014, Network Rail was reclassified as a public body, and from April 2015 will be subject to the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. In order to instigate this, the Government will bring forward secondary legislation. Network Rail is working with them to establish how the legislation will work in practice, including which of the company’s functions will be included.

The framework agreement which provides more detail on these changes is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/network-rail-framework-agreement.

To help the company get ready for the changes, Network Rail’s transparency team have created a FOI implementation programme. This puts the necessary arrangements in place so Network Rail can comply with the FOI Act and formally manage requests for information from April 2015.

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.

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