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Notes to editors

Other projects being delivered this year include:

Overhead line improvements: A specialist team of engineers has walked the entire route between London and Rugby and recommended a series of improvements to improve the reliability of the infrastructure that are being delivered over and above regular maintenance and inspection activity.

To complement this work, Network Rail is changing the way it stores and analyses overhead line condition data which is captured by two specially adapted Pendolino trains. This change will enable the data to be analysed and essential maintenance work to be completed much more quickly.

Network Rail is also working with London Midland and Samaritans to put in place suicide prevention measures at London Midland stations between Watford and Milton Keynes.

The West Coast Main Line runs for 399 miles between London and Glasgow and connects many of Britain’s key cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

Information about current levels of performance on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) in comparison to other long distance routes is available at: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/about/performance/

Around 70% of delays to Virgin services are attributable to Network Rail – around 35% of which are down to infrastructure faults and around 25% to external factors such as cable theft, fatalities, trespass, vandalism and extreme weather. The remaining 10% are caused by operational issues.

In November 2012, following a six-month secondment to Network Rail, Chris Gibb, Gibb, Chief Operating Officer, Virgin Trains, published his recommendations http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/wcs-reliability-programme-191112.pdf for how Network Rail could improve the West Coast Main Line. Chris spent time with maintenance crews, mostly at night, and the recommendations were largely the ideas he heard from these experienced staff.

Network Rail accepted Chris’ recommendations in full. Network Rail’s London North Western route, which is responsible for operating, maintaining and upgrading the West Coast Main Line, has been focusing on meeting those recommendations, meeting with train and freight operating partners regularly to keep them updated.