Thursday 29 Sep 2011
OPTIONS FOR GROWTH - RAIL INDUSTRY UNVEILS PLANS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE RAILWAY IN SCOTLAND
- Region & Route:
- Scotland’s Railway: Scotland
The rail industry in Scotland today publishes its vision for how it can deliver better value for money and play a key role in driving sustainable economic growth over the period 2014 -19.
The Initial Industry Plan (IIP) sets out how the industry could build on recent improvements in cost efficiency and cut the cost of running the Scottish railway by £72m per annum by 2019.
These savings, combined with growth, could see the annual cost of the railway to the taxpayer reduced. This would be achieved through initiatives already in hand, greater cross-industry collaboration and changes in the way government procures passenger rail services.
The development of both this IIP and the IIP for England and Wales, which is also published today, has been overseen by the Planning Oversight Group (POG) which involves representatives of Network Rail, passenger and freight train operators and suppliers.
By making rail more affordable, the plan gives ministers the chance to make choices on the balance between investment, fares and subsidy when taking decisions on future transport policy. Network Rail, train operators and industry suppliers believe continued investment in rail would deliver major benefits for the country and they set out options for investment which if adopted in full would:
· Stimulate economic growth by linking better Scotland’s major population centres and accommodating an increase in rail freight
· Maintain high levels of reliability and safety, focussing on areas in particular need of improvement
· Better meet passengers’ needs in key areas such as journey information, comfort and accessibility to drive continued improvement in customer satisfaction
· Reduce the industry’s CO² emissions in Scotland by 28% by the end of 2019.
The IIP also identifies a rage of investment options for consideration which would improve efficiency and safety while also making the Scottish railway more environmentally-friendly.
A full range of investment options are included as key projects to enhance the Scottish network, such as the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme which is already under way. The IIP also includes proposals for up to an additional £699 million investment beyond that already committed. This range of other schemes includes:
· Increasing the amount of electrified railway in Scotland from the current 23% of the network to 42% by 2019, with future phases of electrification including the Whifflet, Shotts, East Kilbride, Barrhead and City Union lines identified for CP5 and beyond to take the amount of electrified network to 62%
· A £200m scheme to improve journey times and increase the numbers of services to and from Inverness and Aberdeen
· A £37m project to upgrade the highland main line increasing capacity and reducing journey times between Inverness and Perth
· A £42m fund to enhance protection and reduce incidents at level crossings, including reducing the number of AOCL crossings in Scotland consistent with the RAIB’s recent recommendations
· A £50m fund to invest in the Scottish freight network
David Simpson, Network Rail route managing director for Scotland, said: “The railways are booming with more and more people choosing rail and in the years ahead greater collaboration within the industry will deliver even more efficiencies for the government and passengers.
“The IIP provides the Scottish Government with real choices to consider and outlines a range of options which will help to increase socio-economic opportunities for Scotland’s people and businesses and also make the country’s railways even greener.”
Steve Montgomery, managing director of ScotRail, added: “We look forward to the continued investment in Scotland’s railway. It will provide better services, further boost access to jobs, education and leisure, and is a real alternative to the car. We will play our part in delivering the goals.”
The IIP is the first major step in the process that will inform decisions to be made by governments and the Office of Rail Regulation affecting the railways in control period 5, 2014 to 2019.
Notes to editors
Efficiency:
The Initial Industry Plan (IIP) predicts significant savings can be made, GB-wide, between 2014 - 2019 (CP5)
- Network Rail has identified efficiencies of 16%
- Network Rail has already cut 27% or from the cost of running the network during CP3 (2004 to 2009) with a further 23% or forecast for CP4 (2009 to 2014)
- Train operators believe they can also deliver significant efficiencies over the period but this depends on substantial changes being made to franchises and to incentives.
Investment:
The IIP makes a compelling case for continued investment in rail because of the contribution it makes in driving economic growth. GB-wide, passenger numbers are currently growing by 7.6% and have seen growth of 4% per annum over the last decade.
The plan identifies £5.6bn of investment options that allow rail to make an even greater contribution to economic growth with an average benefit to cost ratio of 4.5 to one.
These new opportunities, which deliver faster, more frequent services for passengers and freight users, include:
- The Northern Hub - a £560m scheme to deliver over 700 more daily services between Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield
- Further electrification - Midland main line, North Trans-Pennine, and further schemes in Scotland
- Further development of the freight network to provide capacity for a 30% increase in freight tonne kilometres - equivalent to 15,000 lorry journeys per day
- Journey time improvements in the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Bristol and Oxford areas
- Some 600 new train carriages to take advantage of these capacity enhancing infrastructure schemes
- Improvements for medium-to-large- size stations such as Fenchurch Street, Wimbledon and Liverpool Central
- £200m scheme to improve journey times and increase the numbers of services to and from Inverness and Aberdeen and to the commuter network of the two cities
- New operating strategy - moving from 800 signal boxes to 14 modern signalling centres
Beyond these, the IIP sets out £4.9bn of investment in schemes already committed to and underway, including:
- Completion of the upgrade of the Thameslink route
- Crossrail
- Electrification schemes (Great Western main line and North West schemes)
- Unlocking the Reading bottleneck
- Rebuilding of Birmingham New Street
- Edinburgh to Glasgow improvement programme
Next steps:
The next major steps in the process are:
- February 2012:
- ORR offer guidance to governments on the High Level Output Specifications (HLOS) and Statement of Funds Available (SOFA), in light of the IIP
- Summer 2012:
- Governments (Westminster and Scotland) issue their HLOSs in outlining what they require the railway to deliver. Governments also issue at the same time their SOFAs - how much money will be available to deliver the HLOSs
- January 2013:
- Will see Network Rail publish its Strategic Business Plan (SBP) - its outline of how it will deliver the HLOSs
- June 2013:
- The ORR will publish its draft determination its view on Network Rail's SBP and how much it thinks Network Rail needs to deliver what's required in CP5
- October 2013:
- ORR publish its final determination
- March 2014:
- Network Rail's CP5 delivery plan,
- 1 April 2014:
- CP5 starts
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 - Scotland
0141 555 4109
mediarelations@networkrail.co.uk
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