Annual efficiency and finance assessment of Network Rail

This document provides our Efficiency and financial assessment of Network Rail for 2011-12 ( PDF 744 Kb), the third year of control period 4 (CP4). It is intended to help customers, funders and other interested parties gain a better understanding of Network Rail’s performance compared with the CP4 financial settlement that we set out in our Periodic Review 2008 (PR08) determination of Network Rail’s access charges. It contains information and commentary on Network Rail’s expenditure and its efficiency improvements compared to our PR08 determination, its income, regulatory asset base (RAB), debt and borrowing costs.

Our assessment separately covers Great Britain, England & Wales and Scotland. It underpins the calculation of payments to train operators under the Efficiency Benefit Sharing Mechanism (EBSM), which provides train operators with an incentive to help improve Network Rail’s efficiency in return for a share of the resulting savings.

We also monitor Network Rail’s operational performance, including in respect of safety risk, train performance, asset performance and planning. Our assessment of Network Rail’s operational performance is critically important for holding Network Rail to account against its obligations and is included in our annual health and safety report and our 2011-12 Q4 Network Rail Monitor publication (available on our website). Monitoring operational performance is important in helping us to verify that Network Rail has delivered its obligations in return for the money it has received from train operators and the governments, and that it only retains the benefit of the savings that it has genuinely achieved, which is the focus of this document.

Last updated: 8 November 2012