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Notes to editors

The 20 key routes
Trains will be able to operate between the stations shown below at weekends and bank holidays unless exceptional circumstances make it impractical.

Route

Intermediate stations served on the route

Birmingham - York (including Nottingham)

Derby, Sheffield, Leeds

Birmingham - Plymouth

Bristol

Birmingham - Southampton

Coventry, Oxford, Reading, Basingstoke

Birmingham  - Manchester Piccadilly

Stoke on Trent, Manchester Piccadilly

Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Queen Street via Croy

Falkirk

Leeds - Manchester Piccadilly

Leeds - Bradford

London Bridge - Ashford International via Tonbridge

Orpington

London Bridge - Dartford

London Bridge - East Croydon

London Charing Cross - London Bridge

London Euston - Glasgow Central (including to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool)

Coventry, Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Preston

London King's Cross - Edinburgh

Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Newcastle

London Liverpool Street - Cambridge / Stansted Airport

London Liverpool Street – Shenfield

London Paddington - Cardiff Central (via Bristol Parkway and Temple Meads and including Heathrow Airport)

Reading, Swindon, Bristol Parkway, Newport, Bath Spa

London St Pancras - Sheffield (including Nottingham)

Luton, Leicester, Derby

Victoria - Brighton

East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Haywards Heath

Victoria - Gillingham

Bromley South

Waterloo - Weymouth

Woking, Basingstoke, Southampton, Bournemouth

The regulatory target
Network Rail has been set a regulated target by the ORR of reducing the disruption experienced by passengers because of planned engineering work by at least 37% by April 2014 and is well on course to achieving this target.

Seven-day railway
Several years ago the idea was conceived to significantly reduce the amount of time taken to do big pieces of vital rail improvement work thus enabling a better service to be offered to passengers at weekends and bank holidays.  New engineering methods have had to be created, new machinery and technology introduced to make this vision a reality. Work is ongoing but good progress is being made.

For example, the replacement of a set of points has traditionally taken 54 hours.  We have already halved the time taken to less than 27 hrs but our target is to reduce this even further.

Planning
These commitments will now become progressively embedded in the railway's forward work and improvement schedule over the next 2 years.

Freight
It is also important that the industry grows its share of the freight market.  To this end, Network Rail in discussion with its freight customers, have identified the most important freight flows and, unless there is no practicable alternative, Network Rail will always seek to keep a consistent route open to serve those flows.  This includes (not exhaustive list):

• Channel Tunnel traffic
• Traffic to / from  West Midlands
• Traffic to / from Trafford Park
• Traffic to / from Southampton
• Traffic to / from  Felixstowe
• Scotland and North East to / from Aire Valley and Trent Valley power stations
• Traffic to / from Bristol ports and South Wales
• Traffic to / from Mendip Quarries
• Traffic to from Peak Forest
• Traffic to / from Humberside ports