National Infrastructure Plan 2013
The Government published the latest updates of the national infrastructure plan and the investment pipeline that goes with it on Wednesday 4 December 2013.,Here are excerpts applicable to rail (in the UK)..
Rail
Strategic objectives
3.20 The government is committed to developing the UK’s passenger and freight railways in order to support economic growth, facilitate business, commuting and leisure journeys, provide a greener transport option than road and aviation, and relieve congestion on our road network.
3.21 The government’s priorities for rail include:
• supporting economic growth by providing for additional capacity into major cities
• improving connectivity by increasing services and reducing journey times between cities
• improving connectivity by increasing capacity and reducing journey times between port, airports and cities
• improving reliability and reducing the environmental footprint of rail
• moving towards a railway which is financially sustainable to improve efficiency and value for money
• creating vital extra capacity on roads by supporting growth in rail freight
Policy approach
3.22 The government’s role is to provide strategic direction and funding to the railways and to procure rail franchises and projects (other than those that have been devolved).
3.23 Network Rail is the owner, operator and infrastructure manager of Britain's main railway network. It runs, maintains and develops the core physical infrastructure of the network and has to ensure efficient management of the assets over the short, medium and long-term. Network Rail provides the train operating companies with access to the network.
3.24 Network Rail is a company limited by guarantee. It is accountable to its customers and funded through a mixture of access revenue, paid to it by the train and freight operating companies, and money received from government grants.
3.25 Network Rail operates under a licence issued by the Secretary of State for Transport which the Office for Rail Regulation administers and enforces. The Secretary of State sets out what the government wants to be achieved by railway activities every five years and the public funds that are available to secure delivery, through a High Level Output Specification.
3.26 The ORR ensures that Network Rail operates and plans the future use and development of the network and maintains and enhances its assets in such a way that meets the reasonable requirements of its customers and funders.
3.27 Passenger train services are largely provided through franchises let by the government, except where these have been devolved. The Department for Transport is responsible for the design and procurement of new and replacement rail franchise services on the national rail network for which it is the franchising authority. In March 2013, the government published a detailed timetable for all rail franchises over the next 8 years.1
3.28 The government also directly sponsors some major rail projects, such as Crossrail (jointly sponsored with Transport for London) and High Speed 2 (HS2).
1 The rail franchise schedule can be found on the Department for Transport website in the Rail franchising document collection 39
Government investment decisions
3.29 In July 2012 the government announced more than £16 billion of funding for the current rail network from 2014–19, known as Control Period 5 (CP5). The Office of Rail Regulation confirmed this funding in its Final Determination for CP5 and set out an overall spending envelope of over £38 billion (2012-13 prices) including contributions from the train operating companies and borrowing.
3.30 This will allow Network Rail to make over £12 billion (2012-13 prices) of enhancements to improve rail services across Great Britain. This includes all the track and station enhancements set out at Annex A.
3.31 It also allows Network Rail to carry out the necessary maintenance and network operations activity, improving reliability and the environmental performance of the network. In the 6 months up to September 2013, £2.74 billion, some £15 million a day, was invested in improving the rail network.
3.32 The industry’s strategy is built around a rolling programme of electrification, allowing for continued use of ‘cascaded’ modern electric rolling stock and exploiting synergies between schemes in order to efficiently meet forecast demand growth, support economic growth and better environmental outcomes, and secure cost efficiencies for both passenger and freight operators.
High Speed 2
3.33 The government is also directly funding High Speed 2 (HS2): the key strategic investment for the national transport network over the medium to long term. HS2 will deliver the connectivity and capacity on Britain’s major north–south lines that our economy will need for sustainable growth. It will also form the basis of a potential wider network to other parts of Britain. HS2 will link 8 of Britain’s 10 largest cities, serving 1 in 5 of the UK population, and providing Britain’s railways with new capacity, better connectivity and quicker journeys. It will allow more passengers to use trains and more freight operators to use rail rather than road.
3.34 The government has set a funding envelope of £42.6 billion (in 2011 prices) for HS2 construction costs and £7.5 billion for rolling stock, together with a strong cost control framework.
What this will achieve
3.35 The government has specified the key outputs for the current Rail Network that it wishes to see as a result of the Network Rail programme of rail investment from 2014 to 2019. These include:
• improved rail industry efficiency and value for money for customers
• improved reliability: by 2019, the public performance measure which captures trains arriving on time2 should achieve at least an overall level of 92.5 per cent and there should be a reduction to no more than 2.2 per cent in the overall percentage of trains which are cancelled or arrive at their final destination significantly late3
• improved passenger satisfaction
• maintained or enhanced current safety levels, including a reduction in accidents at level crossings
2 This measures the percentage of trains arriving at destination within ten minutes of the time shown on the published timetable for long distance services, and within five minutes for regional services and London and South East services. It covers all timetabled services on all days of the week. Cancellations are included within PPM as services not arriving within time.
3 A train is significantly late if it arrives at destination 30 or more minutes later than the time shown on the public timetable. Significant lateness covers all timetabled services on all days of the week. Cancellations and part cancellations are scored as ‘significantly late’. 40
• the provision of additional passenger capacity at peak times in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and other ‘urban areas’ and at the main London termini
• evidence that the industry is meeting its carbon and energy efficiency objectives, and is taking the necessary steps to take account of the risks and opportunities from anticipated climate change and other environmental impacts 3.36 The government is also undertaking direct investment in HS2 to deliver vital additional capacity, cut journey times and support jobs and growth. In particular:
• it will generate total benefits of £71 billion including benefits to business of £54 billion when the entire network is completed
• the new high speed rail lines will take long distance services off existing north-to-south lines, transforming the UK’s rail infrastructure and making room for faster, more frequent local passenger services
• HS2 will release vital capacity on the conventional network, meaning that more rail freight can be moved on the major north-south routes, particularly the West Coast Main Line
• it will cut journey times between many of our key cities, including Birmingham, Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London
Key policy milestones
3.37 Table 3.B sets out the key upcoming policy milestones for rail infrastructure. Table 3.B: Key upcoming policy milestones for rail infrastructure
| Future policy milestone | Lead department or body | Date |
| Close of consultation on the Proposed route for HS2 Phase Two | Department for Transport | January 2014 |
| Publication of Network Rail response to Office of Rail Regulation’s determination on Rail Control Period 5 | Network Rail | March 2014 |
| Start of Rail Control Period 5 | Office of Rail Regulation | April 2014 |
| Second Reading of High Speed 2 Hybrid Bill | Parliament | Spring 2014 |
| Publication of the final report of the High Speed 2 Growth Taskforce | High Speed 2 Growth Taskforce | Spring 2014 |
| Publication of government response to High Speed 2 Phase 2 route consultation | Department for Transport | December 2014 |
| High Speed 2 Hybrid Bill to receive Royal Assent | Parliament | Expected Spring 2015 |
3.39 More broadly, the government has identified the following key projects and programmes that will be prioritised as part of its Top 40 priority investments:
High Speed 2
Rationale: This project is deemed to be a priority investment in its own right because of its scale and strategic significance in terms of its role in increasing capacity and connectivity and supporting growth. HS2 will transform the UK’s rail infrastructure and is the government’s key strategic investment in the national transport network over the medium to long term.
Northern connectivity
Rationale: This is a major programme of rail investment in the North of England, comprising electrification and complementary line speed improvements, construction of the new Ordsall Curve in Manchester and improvements to the Castlefield corridor in central Manchester, and line speed and capacity improvements. The programme is deemed to be a priority investment because of its strategic importance for the UK economy in terms of its role in increasing rail capacity and connectivity and high regional significance.
Key programmes/projects
The government will monitor the key elements which comprise this programme:
• Northern Hub: a programme of targeted upgrades to the railway in the North of England that could allow up to 700 more trains to run each day and provide space for 44 million more passengers a year
• North West electrification
• Trans-Pennine electrification
Electrification
Rationale: This is deemed to be a priority investment because of its contribution to the government’s key strategic objectives of improving capacity and connectivity while also reducing the environmental footprint of rail. Electrifying key routes on the railway will mean faster, greener, quieter and more reliable journeys for thousands of passengers and help support growth across many of our cities and towns.
Key programmes/projects
The government will particularly monitor the four largest elements of the electrification programme not included within other priority investments:
• Electric Spine
• Great Western
• Midland Main Line
• Welsh Valleys
Line capacity improvements
Rationale: This is deemed to be a priority investment because of its contribution to the government’s strategic objectives of providing additional capacity and improving connectivity by increasing services and reducing journey times. Line improvements include new sections of track and a range of improvements to signalling, including installation of the new European Rail Traffic Management System.
Key programmes/projects
The government will particularly monitor the six largest elements of the line improvements programme
• Midland Main Line capacity
• East Coast Main Line
• West Coast Main Line
• Southern Train lengthening
• East-West Rail
• East Coast connectivity
Major station improvements
Rationale: This is a significant investment programme rebuilding some key thoroughfares, as well as improvements to small to medium stations which allow them to continue to provide a quality service to increasing numbers of passengers. In doing so, it supports the government’s strategic objectives of providing additional capacity whilst also enhancing passenger experience.
Key programmes/projects
The government will particularly monitor the investments in some of the busiest interchanges for people and freight at key strategic points on the rail network:
• Birmingham New Street
• Bristol Temple Meads
• Manchester Victoria
• Peterborough
• Reading
Intercity Express Programme
Rationale: This is the largest programme of rolling stock enhancement currently underway, which will improve capacity and support the efficiency of rolling stock elsewhere on the rail network. The government will monitor this investment at programme level.
Strategic Rail Freight Network
Rationale: This supports the government’s objective of developing an integrated transport network, by enabling freight activity that would otherwise be undertaken by road, and supporting the connectivity of our international gateways.
Key programmes/projects
The government will particularly monitor the following investment because of its large capital value, which means that successful delivery is therefore particularly critical in ensuring the overall value for money of the programme:
• Felixstowe to Nuneaton route
Crossrail
Rationale: Crossrail will increase London’s rail capacity by 10 per cent - the largest increase since World War 2, as well as supporting the delivery of over 57,000 new homes and 3.25 million 43
square metres of commercial space. This is deemed to be a priority investment in its own right because of its size and complexity: it is the biggest construction project in Europe and is one of the largest single infrastructure investments undertaken in the UK.
Thameslink
Rationale: This is deemed to be a priority investment in its own right because of its size and strategic significance. The Thameslink programme will increase train capacity on one of Europe's busiest stretches of railway (north to south through central London), providing scope for future growth. By 2018 tens of thousands of passengers daily will benefit from improved journeys (trains will run every 2-3 minutes in each direction through central London at the busiest times); better connections (many more stations outside London will be connected to the Thameslink route) and better stations. The station redevelopment will also help regenerate the wider area. The government will monitor this investment at programme level.
Read more HERE
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Future Rail
Issue 10 December 2013
Dear colleague, The latest issue of Future Rail has arrived! Read your free copy now >> Tesla Motors and SpaceX founder Elon Musk's concept for Hyperloop, a 760mph tube travel system, has received much attention, but an alternative technology, ET3, is already approaching the testing stage. In this future travel special we investigate the feasibility of the two futuristic concepts. We also announce the winner of the Future Rail Award 2013, find out how aerodynamic design can improve the energy efficiency of locomotives, profile the world's fastest trains and look at how station design is evolving to deliver improved passenger experience. Moreover, we ask Italy's NTV how integrated fleet and workforce planning software has helped optimise its operational resources, and talk to Masabi about its cloud-based mobile ticketing system.  
76084 is Coming Home
76084 is part of the North Norfolk Railway (NNR) home fleet until at least the end of 2014 and possibly beyond. The NNR effectively closes for the months of January and February and do not require 76084’s services. Such a valuable asset standing idle is not good business sense so the invitation to attend the East Lancashire Railway’s (ELR) planned Steam Galas during January and February 2014 was just too tempting.
As 76084 was built at Horwich and in BR days worked across the North West of England she is effectively coming home. The ELR will utilise 76084 on a number of days including the 18/19 January and 22/23 February Steam Gala weekends. This is not the first time a locomotive numbered 76084 will have run on the ELR as 76079 has paraded as ’84 on at least 2 occasions but it is the first for the REAL 76084.
Please pass on this news to anyone you think might be interested.
Photos and text Copyright © 2013 76084 Locomotive Company Limited,
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35029 Ellerman Lines sectioned to show the workings of a steam locomotive
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