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Rail industry costs

As the chart below shows Network Rail’s costs are coming down. But they remain much higher than they should be. We expect the company to close the remaining efficiency gap with the best performing rail infrastructure managers by 2019.

Network Rail’s operating, maintenance and renewals expenditure since 1995-96

Source:ORR

Sir Roy McNulty’s recent rail value for money study took our analysis of Network Rail’s costs and looked more broadly at the efficiency of the whole rail industry. His report highlighted that whole-industry costs are 30 per cent higher than comparable railways elsewhere in Europe. This is reflected in the high levels of fares and the need for continuing taxpayer support.