Nicholas Pollard: "determined to utlilise every penny"

York-based rail bosses today announced a 30 per cent hike in spending on vital track and signalling infrastructure as part of a £52 billion investment plan for Britain's rail network.

Railtrack London North Eastern Zone, which looks after all lines in the York area, including the flagship East Coast Route, revealed it is to invest £259 million in the coming year on improvements to the rail infrastructure.

The announcement follows the national launch of the firm's management blueprint, the 2000 Network Management Statement.

An extra £86 million will be pumped into track improvements alone, with a further £65 million going into signalling.

But another £41 million will be spent on improving station facilities, such as car parks and information systems, and £31 million on structures such as bridges and tunnels.

The next 12 months will see more than £10 million invested in preparing the region's infrastructure for the introduction of Train Protection and Warning System as part of the programme to fully introduce the safety system by the end of 2002.

Spending plans also include a £20 million boost to the London North Eastern Zone's plans to upgrade the East Coast Main Line, increasing capacity for both train and freight operators over the next ten years.

A £10million project to establish a hi-tech signalling centre, the Integrated Electronic Control Centre at York station, is due to be complete by the end of next year.

The company has revealed that on current projections, rail passenger numbers - already sharply up in recent years - are set to increase by another 47 per cent over the coming decade.

And the amount of rail freight is set to soar by a staggering 150 per cent over the same period.

Nicholas Pollard, director of Railtrack London North Eastern, based in York, said: "This massive investment programme gives us the opportunity to take forward the improvements we have been working so hard to deliver.

"We are absolutely determined to utilise every penny of this investment to drive down delay even further than the 40 per cent achieved in the last four years, to provide modern and accessible station facilities, and an ever more safe and reliable infrastructure for both operators and the paying customer."

Railtrack chief executive Gerald Corbett said nationally the £52 billion was the total menu to choose from and included maintenance and renewal.

He said the group's immediate focus was on plans for the next five years for which £8 billion has been earmarked.

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