Vision for the future of railways

Better services, improved passenger information, and cuts in the cost of running the railways have been outlined in future plans announced by rail chiefs.

Described as an initial industry plan, the programme covers the period 2014 to 2019, with the industry aiming to cut rail costs by £1.3 billion a year by the end of this decade.

Plans include £5.6 billion-worth of schemes, including the Northern Hub – a £560 million plan to deliver more than 700 extra services a day between Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sheffield.

The rail chiefs’ vision also includes journey time improvements in the East Midlands, Yorkshire, Bristol and Oxford areas and electrification of the Midland main line, the north trans-Pennine line, and further electrification schemes in Scotland.

The plan also envisages improvements to a number of stations including Fenchurch Street in London and Liverpool Central, as well as a £200 million scheme to improve services between Inverness and Aberdeen in Scotland.

By better linking Britain’s major cities, an extra 180,000 peak-time seats could be provided, as well as accommodating a 30% increase in freight.

Rail chiefs also announced plans to move from 800 signal boxes to 14 modern signalling centres. The hoped-for schemes, which will need Government approval, are in addition to £4.9 billion-worth of ongoing projects such as the Thameslink and Crossrail schemes in London and already-announced electrification schemes such as the Great Western line.

The rail industry also spoke of trying to improve the passenger experience in key areas such as journey information, comfort and accessibility.

Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: “Rail has a bright future in supporting a successful green economy in the years ahead. This plan shows how we can do that by providing a better quality of service to growing numbers of passengers at a more affordable cost.

“We look forward to working with government to ensure the right framework is in place to make this possible.”

8800 extra spaces for busy trains on key routes

Source: Department for Transport

Space for up to an extra 8,800 rail passengers is being created on key commuter services in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle, Rail Minister Theresa Villiers announced today.

Under a deal funded by the Government, passengers on Northern Rail are to benefit from an extra 22 train carriages. Separate agreements also deliver an extra 6 carriages to First Great Western and an additional 4 carriages to London Midland.

Theresa Villiers said:

“I am delighted we have been able to finalise these important deals which will make a real difference to passengers. Even at a time when we are tackling the huge deficit we inherited, we are determined to invest in Britain’s future. That is why we’re committed to a major investment programme in our railways to deliver a big increase in capacity to ease crowding and provide commuters with more comfortable journeys.”

“Today’s good news has been made possible by our plans to introduce 2,700 new rail carriages on to the network by May 2019.

“We are also committed to the completion of the vital Crossrail and Thameslink projects in London and we are investing £900m in rail electrification. In the longer term our plans for a high speed rail network will free up a huge amount of space on our current network for more commuter trains – with some towns potentially seeing a near doubling of services.”

“As well as improving life for passengers, these rail improvements will play an important role in strengthening economic growth.”

The extra carriages, which will be in service from December 2011, are becoming available as a result of the planned deployment of 69 new train carriages which are being delivered to London Midland for use in the Birmingham area. This then allows for the carriages currently being used by London Midland to serve passengers using Northern Rail and First Great Western services. Consequently some First Great Western trains are to be released to serve Northern Rail passengers.