The five-year plan targets the busiest parts of Britain’s rail network.
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “A key part of this government's long term economic plan is investing in world class infrastructure. That is why we are putting record amounts of government funding into our railways over the next five years. That investment will generate growth, create jobs and boost business while delivering faster journeys, greater comfort and better punctuality for passengers across the UK.”
The rail industry's five-year plan includes electrification of more than 850 miles of railway and the upgrade of hundreds of stations around the country including London Bridge, Manchester Victoria, Birmingham New Street and Glasgow Queen Street. There are also plans to close a further 500 level crossings on top of the almost 800 closed since 2010.
Other investments include renewing over 7,000km of track and replacing 300,000m² of station platforms, renewal or refurbishment of nearly 6,000 sets of points and replacement of 7,000km of fencing.
The work is being carried out as part of Network Rail’s control period 5, which runs from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2019. Of the £38bn to be spent on Britain’s railways over the next five years, £13bn will be invested in capital expenditure projects to relieve overcrowding by building new tracks, uncorking bottlenecks, increasing capacity and upgrading outdated stations.
In addition to this capital expenditure, £12bn will be invested in replacing and renewing older parts of the network. A further £13bn will be spent on day-to-day maintenance and the costs of operating and running one of the busiest, most intensely used networks in Europe.
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