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ORR welcomes Network Rail’s acceptance of its outputs and funding for 2009-14

5 February 2009
ORR/04/09

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) today welcomed Network Rail’s acceptance of its determination of the company’s outputs and funding for 2009-14.

Bill Emery, ORR chief executive, said: “I know that Network Rail has looked very carefully at our determination and I am pleased it has accepted it. Network Rail can now work with industry partners to deliver, over the next five years, the required improvements to safety and reliability and continue to expand network capacity for the long-term benefit of passengers and freight customers.

“Network Rail will be making these improvements with less funding than it has received in the current five-year period and the company recognises that it will need to implement new technologies and find better ways of working. We are confident the company, building on its good performance in the current five-year period, will successfully rise to the challenge laid down by our determination.

“We will continue to actively monitor Network Rail, to check that it delivers the improvements required by our determination and that its actions to live within its means are not at the expense of long-term sustainability of the railway infrastructure.” 

Notes to Editors

  1. Periodic review 2008: “Determination of Network Rail’s outputs and funding for 2009-14” published by ORR on 30 October 2008 is available on the ORR website at: http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/383.pdf
  2. In order to operate, maintain, renew and enhance the railway network and deliver these improvements, ORR determined that Network Rail needed to spend £28.5 bn in the five years of control period 4 (from April 2009 to 31 March 2014). This was £2.6bn less than the £31.1bn Network Rail requested. ORR confirmed to the Secretary of State for Transport and Scottish Ministers that the improvements they are expecting from the railways over the next five years were affordable for the public money the governments are making available.
  3. The improvements in the reliability of train services, measured by the public performance measure, are set out for the different sectors in England & Wales: 93% for London & south east services, 92% for long distance and regional services in England & Wales. In Scotland the public performance measure will improve to 92%.
  4. Governments in England & Wales and Scotland published their respective high level output specifications (HLOSs) and statements of funds available (SoFAs) in July 2007. Network Rail responded to the HLOSs by producing an industry strategic business plan (SBP) at the beginning of November, and its SBP update in April 2008. ORR published its draft determination in June 2008.
  5. Following the determination the detailed price lists and access charge schedules were published on 18 December 2008 along with the review notices which started the legal implementation of the determination. The review notices make the necessary changes to the access agreements for all passenger and freight train operators, and users of stations. The changes to the access agreements along with the deeds of grant between Network Rail and government will allow Network Rail to recover the income necessary to deliver its obligations during 2009-14.
  6. Since we published our determination Network Rail has been preparing its delivery plan which will explain in detail what it will do during 2009-14 to deliver the outputs and manage the network. It has consulted with train operators and funders on the contents of the plan. It must provide us with part 1 of the delivery plan by 27 February (which focuses on train performance and the enhancement programme) and part 2 (which includes activity volumes, expenditure and other milestones) by 31 March. We will then formally review the plan for compliance with our determination.

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