R A I LT R AC K - The Railways Archive

Progress since the 1998 NMS
The time since our 1998 Network Management Statement has been a period of intensive activity for Railtrack.We
have developed a new, more systematic approach to the management of train performance, based on budgets,action
plans which focus on key route sections and assets, and accountability for delivery with Area Delivery Groups.We
have adopted a more collaborative approach to working with our customers – the train operators – based on a
Ten-Point Plan for improving train performance.The Government’s Rail Summits provided a catalyst for this approach.
We have also changed the way we work with our maintenance contractors, moving to a more collaborative
approach with an ‘open-book’policy, and have let the first four new-style contracts.
We have rebalanced our investment programme towards enhancement and introduced new techniques for
managing the maintenance/renewal trade-off.We have now completed half the Station Regeneration Programme and
have made solid progress on safety, introduced new collaborative approaches to timetabling, and started upgrading
the West Coast Main Line.We have also helped the Government save the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. We shall meet
our financial targets for the year and be close to achieving the 7.5% overall performance target (for train delays) that
we agreed with the Rail Regulator in July last year.
The industry record
Privatisation of the rail industry has produced many successes. Investment has increased, safety has improved and,
after years of stagnation and decline, the industry has grown dramatically in passenger and freight volumes. Passenger
numbers since 1995 have increased by 25% and freight tonne-kilometres by nearly 40%.
Since 1996,our own investment programme has doubled to £1.45bn per annum,most of it on renewing the
infrastructure (track and signalling etc) and making good the backlog of public sector underinvestment, particularly
on stations. Nearly one half of our 2,500 stations have now benefited from the Station Regeneration Programme
which is on course for completion in 2001.
However, success has also raised new issues. After a significant early improvement, industry performance
(measured in delays per train movement) has recently deteriorated, with train operators performance (defined as
attributed minutes’ delay) worsening and Railtrack’s overall performance showing only minimal improvements after
40% gain achieved in the last three years. Performance among operators and Railtrack’s Zones has been uneven.
Some have improved;others have worsened.
The potential scale of these problems is compounded by the projected growth in passenger and freight traffic.
Industry models of congestion show that a 1% increase in passenger train miles leads to a 2.5% increase in delays to
trains.A growth of 40% in train miles over the next ten years – all other things being equal – would lead to a doubling
in the total amount of train delays,a result which is clearly unacceptable.
A number of solutions present themselves; in the short term more systematic management and a more
collaborative approach will help. But a full solution requires investment to expand capacity together with an improved
incentive regime for a new era which will deliver the desired outputs.
Privatisation of the rail
industry has produced
many successes. Investment
has increased, safety has
improved and, after years
of stagnation and decline,
the industry has grown
dramatically in passenger
and freight volumes
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