23.07.19
ORR annual assessment of Network Rail Scotland highlights progress
In its final annual assessment of Network Rail Scotland for Control Period 5 (2014-19), the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) highlighted good progress in its delivery of enhancements and freight performance but continued poor passenger train service performance.
Network Rail Scotland finished its CP5 enhancements delivery programme strongly, meeting a number of key milestones on or ahead of schedule.
One notable example was the delivery of the Shotts Electrification project, despite the collapse of its electrification contractor late into the project.
Other successes include delivery of the Highland Mainline Phase 2 project, the Stirling-Dunblane-Alloa electrification, and sustained progress on the redevelopment at Glasgow Queen Street Station.
ORR’s Annual Monitor also shows that Network Rail’s performance in the rail freight sector remains strong. At the end of 2018-19, the freight performance measure for Scotland for on-time arrivals was 96.7%, 4.2 percentage points better than target.
Stephanie Tobyn, ORR director, Scotland, said: “Given the recent challenges faced by electrification projects across Great Britain, it is encouraging to see Network Rail Scotland perform well in its enhancements delivery programme.
“It also outperformed all of the routes in England and Wales on its asset management scorecard targets.”
The report did contain mixed results, with some areas still needing furthering improvement for the operator. According to the ORR, passengers in Scotland suffered a decline in train service performance. At the end of 2018-19, performance in Scotland was 5.1 percentage points below the punctuality target of 92.5%.