Network Rail (NR) has proposed increasing spending on core railway infrastructure by approximately £600m in order to improve the sustainability and safety of railways in Great Britain.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) called for the extra money during its response to NR’s proposed £43.1bn spending plans for the five-year period from 1 April 2024.
NR said the previous spending period was especially tumultuous due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw a 95 per cent drop-off in passengers, resulting in a major loss of revenue.
The ORR sets specific performance requirements for trains that are designed to benefit both passengers and freight operators. The latest targets are more challenging than originally proposed by NR “but are realistic,” the regulator said.
NR’s spending increase is designed to improve the performance of various core assets on Great Britain’s railways including tracks, structures and earthworks. In order to meet the targets, the body is required to work with operators to ensure that cancellations are reduced and punctuality is maintained across the country, even as passenger numbers increase.
The ORR also said it needs to reduce cancellations for freight operators from current levels and wants to boost rail freight across Great Britain by 7.5 per cent in England and Wales and 8.7 per cent in Scotland.
NR’s spending plans have been beset by significant uncertainty due to inflation exacerbating financial challenges and the impact of climate change on infrastructure.
To mitigate these issues, the ORR said that NR should retain an emergency fund of £1.5bn in England and Wales and £225m in Scotland to cope with unexpected impacts on infrastructure.
Will Godfrey, a director at the ORR, said: “I’m pleased to see that NR has responded well to our challenges to its initial plans, and the result is more robust and customer-focused plans that we believe will deliver better outcomes for passengers and freight.
“The plans are challenging but achievable. Our five-year funding and regulatory settlement provides stability and a platform for the industry to plan and invest. This is important not just for NR, but also for passenger and freight operators and the supply chain.
“NR must now set out how it will deliver on our final determination.”
Andrew Haines, NR chief executive, said: “The rail sector enjoys an almost unique level of funding certainty and that is a privilege that comes with serious responsibilities.
“More than £43bn will be spent over the next five years to deliver a safer and better railway for passengers and freight customers. Today’s announcement gives clarity and certainty for the railway and our supply chain partners, and will now enable us to continue building on our detailed delivery plans.
“The UK and Scottish governments’ funding commitment and today’s news is a significant vote of confidence in the industry’s future. The impact of inflation, tight public finances and the need to invest more to manage the impact of more frequent extreme weather on the infrastructure does mean that our funding will need to go further than ever before.
“In addition to improvements to safety, we’ll work to boost train performance, usher in new technologies and invest significantly more funds to tackle climate change, as well as make £3.6bn of efficiency savings.”
Sign up to the E&T News e-mail to get great stories like this delivered to your inbox every day.
Original Source: https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2023/10/network-rail-to-spend-an-extra-600m-on-infrastructure-upgrades/