Summary
'Increasing Passenger Rail Capacity: Department for Transport and the Office for Rail Regulation’ (HC 33), reports that the 30-year strategy set to increase rail passenger capacity in England and Wales will not deliver as first forecast.
By March 2014, The Department for Transport (DfT) initially intended to double the number of passengers travelling by train comfortably at peak time in London by 17% and 27% in other major cities, as well as to improve their safety and reliability.
A number of issues have affected the ambitious plan originally set out in 2007:
- Reduced use of rail due to the recession
- Increased cost of rail carriages
- Required transparency when dealing with regional intervention changes
Network Rail was allocated £7 billion of an overall £9 billion budget with doubts arising with regards to their budget plan. Their costs, the need for their proposed scheme, the reasonableness of the costs, and the opportunities for efficiency gains during the period under review were scrutinised by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR).
Further evaluation of the costs and benefits involved in increasing rail capacity are needed.
Found this story interesting?
Spread the news by
clicking below to add it to your bookmarking service: