Network Rail regulation and performance

ORR could cut Network Rail managers’ bonuses as new regulatory policies introduced

28 March 2019The ORR is to introduce new regulations to hold Network Rail to account by targeting the areas that have the most serious impact on passengers and funders. The new regulatory policy will be introduced for the start of CP6, and could see senior ma...

Network Rail to spend £42bn on railway improvements to ‘restore public trust’

28 March 2019Network Rail is to spend £42bn on the railway over the next five years in a bid to improve poor punctuality in “the biggest modernisation of our rail network in over a century.” The arm’s length body has published detailed...

London mayor calls for government to devolve rail infrastructure powers and funding to TfL

28 March 2019London mayor Sadiq Khan has called for the government to transfer control of rail infrastructure management to TfL and manage its devolved suburban services. Khan said the move would pave the way for a metro-style service in south and southeast L...

‘Unacceptable’: Northern’s extra half-hourly trains from Cheshire to Manchester delayed for second time

27 March 2019The introduction of two additional train services between Cheshire and Manchester every hour has been postponed for the second time, according to the DfT. Northern promised half-hourly train services on the Mid-Cheshire Line in its bid for the fr...

ScotRail submits £18m improvement plan in response to government improvement notice

25 March 2019Under-fire train operator ScotRail has unveiled an £18m remedial plan to recruit more staff and bring in additional high-speed trains in response to the government’s improvement demands last month. Transport Scotland issued ScotRail w...

Major redevelopment plans for Edinburgh Waverley station unveiled

25 March 2019Network Rail has launched a consultation on a multi-million long-term redevelopment plan for Edinburgh’s Waverley Station. With annual passengers expected to double to nearly 50 million, Waverley Station is set to undergo a major renovation...

Failings found as passengers on stranded train walk on live track in ‘potentially lethal’ incident, RAIB says

25 March 2019Dozens of passengers left “increasingly uncomfortable” on a stranded train at Lewisham left their train and walked along icy tracks still open to traffic, a “shocking” RAIB report has revealed. The RMT stated it was &ldquo...

New to-the-minute measures for train punctuality introduced to tackle delays

22 March 2019New measures of train punctuality are to be released by train operators and Network Rail next month in a bid to improve performance. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) announced the new ‘on time’ standards which will record train times to...

Government’s role in new passenger-centric railway ‘will have to change’, says Williams Review lead

21 March 2019The man leading the Williams Rail Review has warned that the government’s role in the UK railways “will have to change” as the industry switches to a more passenger-centric railway. Keith Williams, the man leading the “roo...

Government promises to look ‘very carefully’ at £218m bid for second Chelmsford station

21 March 2019The government will look “very carefully” at a £218m funding bid for a new railway station in Chelmsford, Theresa May has said. Essex County Council has bid for £218m from the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund...

RDG calls for new regulator to stop railway ‘being used as a political football’

19 March 2019The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has called for a new organisation to regulate the railway and replace the ORR in order to stop the railway “being used as a political football.” Responding to the government’s call for submissions t...

Safety warning issued after runaway road-rail vehicle raises concerns over brake maintenance and ‘inadequate supervision’

15 March 2019The RAIB has issued new safety recommendations after a road rail vehicle (RRV) ran downhill and out of control along a track for 340 metres. During works at Bradford Interchange station, a mobile elevating working platform ran away whilst it was...

Network Rail reveals winner of final track works contract worth £1.5bn

14 March 2019Network Rail has announced Balfour Beatty as the preferred bidder to carry out track upgrades across central England for the next decade in a contract worth an estimated £1.5bn. The contract covers the delivery of a wide-ranging programme o...

£50m plans for transport projects to support South Wales metro unveiled

07 March 2019A £50m programme of local transport projects to support the South Wales Metro has been proposed. The Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) City Deal has produced the plans for the scheme in collaboration with the Welsh Government and Transport for W...

New six-carriage Northern trains pushed back two years due to delayed upgrade works

07 March 2019The delivery of Northern’s new six-carriage trains at Leeds station has been delayed by two years due to separate delays to Network Rail upgrades. The longer trains were due to be introduced at the end of this year, but due to delays to the...