Network Rail regulation and performance

Business owners face closure as Network Rail pushes on with billion-pound asset sale

04.06.18: Business owners based in railway arches around the UK face closure as Network Rail goes ahead with plans to sell off infrastructure assets in a billion-pound sale. A buyer will purchase all 5,500 arches by the end of the year, which wi...

Communication with passengers ‘woeful’ after timetable changes

01.06.18: The major disruption faced by passengers following rail timetable changes could be investigated by MPs. Lilian Greenwood, chair of the Transport Committee, said that the transport secretary, Network Rail and the train operating companies have q...

NR and Northern to review failures of recent timetable shake-up ahead of December changes

25.05.18: Network Rail and Northern will commission an independent report and recommendations into the processes that led up to the TOC’s recent timetable change which, despite its long-term goal of improving services, has delivered an unacceptable am...

Bromham Road Bridge rebuild plans revised following community feedback

23.05.18: Network Rail has updated its proposals for the reconstruction of Bromham Road Bridge as part of the Midland Main Line Upgrade. The work will allow all of the railway lines through Bedford to be electrified. Since the first meeting of the for...

NR starts £9.5m flood defence scheme

21.05.18: Network Rail has commenced work on a £9.5m flood defence scheme in the south west. The scheme, which will protect the railway line between Exeter and Salisbury, will see two 550 tonne underground bridge structures installed beneath the ra...

NR found guilty of safety failure after signaller breaks neck

14.05.18: Network Rail has been found guilty of an offence under the Health and Safety Work Act following a level crossing accident. Signaller, Douglas Caddell, suffered life-changing injuries after he was struck by a car as he tried to close the level c...

Engineers commence studies to safeguard Devon and Cornwall railway

11.05.18: Expert engineers have begun detailed studies along the route between Teignmouth and Dawlish in order to safeguard the railway in Devon and Cornwall. Network Rail has been devising plans to safeguard the railway since 2014, when the railway line...

Network Rail seeks more views on Heathrow rail link

08.05.18: Network Rail is seeking views on a potential new rail link that would connect the Great Western Main Line (GWML) to London Heathrow Airport from the west. The consultation, which will run for six weeks, will build on the 1,000 responses receive...

High-speed handbacks could save NR £250,000 a week

25.04.18: New approaches to engineering could potentially save £250,000 a week by allowing trains to run at higher speeds once work is complete, Network Rail has said. When a tamping machine is used alone to place track into position and consolidat...

Great North Rail Project sees £46m spent on Wigan train depot

24.04.18: Wigan is to gain a new £46m train depot as part of the Great North Rail Project. The number of passengers in the north is set to double over the next 25 years, and so more depots are needed to enable the more frequent services and additio...

Network Rail plans flood alleviation scheme for Hele

23.04.18: Network Rail plans to carry out a flood resilience project in Hele, it has announced. Flooding has been a longstanding problem in the area around Station Road, and so a scheme has been developed which is expected to reduce the risk of flooding...

Supervisory board established to drive rail improvements in Anglia

19.04.18: A new dedicated Route Supervisory Board has been formed to drive improvements to Anglia’s regional rail network. The board has been formed through Network Rail joining Anglia’s passenger, train and freight organisations, and will be...

Failure to stop events increased by 10,000 in four years

17.04.18: Trains in Britain miss scheduled stops an average of 160 times a day, according to recent figures from Network Rail. A Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the BBC revealed that in the financial year up to 23 February, over 52,000 services o...

Suppliers invited to challenge ‘rigorous’ NR standards for incentives

13.04.18: Network Rail is encouraging contractors, suppliers and stakeholders to propose changes to its standards, or the detailed requirements that underpin how the railway and improvement projects are run and delivered – all in exchange for incent...

ScotRail accepts 20 action points to improve performance in new plan

05.04.18: The ScotRail Alliance has published a performance improvement plan that it says will drive up standards and help to build “the best railway Scotland has ever had.” According to recent figures, nine out of 10 ScotRail trains arrive w...