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Thursday 21 Nov 2013

Wales benefits from record rail investment as Network Rail publishes its half-year results

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

New platforms, new lifts, new information systems, new signalling, new footbridges, new track; all have featured as record investment has been ploughed into Wales’ railways over the past six months.

Network Rail today published its half-yearly results (for the period 1 April to 31 October 2013) which revealed that nearly £100m was invested in the railway in Wales – more than half-a-million pounds a day on average. This investment is largely driven by the company’s major plans to significantly modernise the railway in Wales, making it bigger and better for passengers.

Mark Langman, route managing director for Network Rail Wales, said: "The railway continues to experience tremendous growth and we are responding to that demand through the biggest sustained investment programme since Victorian times.

“With a million more trains and half a billion more passengers than 10 years ago, Britain’s railways are all but full. We are squeezing all we can out of the existing network and the railway must improve and grow to deliver the step-change in capacity that Britain’s vital rail arteries need."

Over the past six months some significant investment milestones have been reached, including:

- Modernising the Rhymney Valley and Vale of Glamorgan signalling equipment as part of the Cardiff Area re-signalling scheme
- The start of Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Central stations upgrade
- The opening of a new platform at Gowerton station as part of a redoubling scheme jointly funded by the Welsh Government
- Numerous bridge refurbishment projects, including Hawarden railway bridge.

As well as these major milestones Network Rail has also completed nearly £35m worth of stations improvement programme in Wales since 2009, which was the start of the company’s current five-year funding period also known as Control Period 4. - ends -