Local authority and transport bosses have welcomed Government plans for major new investment in railway infrastructure to upgrade stations, expand capacity and improve train safety and reliability.
Transport secretary Ruth Kelly has unveiled details of a £10bn investment package that aims to attract 180 million more rail passengers and upgrade 150 station by 2014
The rail White Paper also includes £5.5bn for modernisation of the Thameslink line in London and £425M improvements at Reading station and £128M for Birmingham New Street station.
Geoff Inskip, director general of Centro which leads for pteg on rail issues said: 'The major challenge for the railways in the years ahead is to deal with rapid growth in passenger numbers. We therefore welcome the emphasis in the White Paper on increasing capacity and tackling bottlenecks.
He stressed the importance of extending urban rail networks in city regions and said: ‘We will continue to make the case to Government that in expanding rail capacity we need to get the balance right between spending on the South East and spending on the next tier of major urban rail networks - which are currently growing faster than any other sector of the passenger railway.’
He stressed the importance of extending urban rail networks in city regions and said: ‘We will continue to make the case to Government that in expanding rail capacity we need to get the balance right between spending on the South East and spending on the next tier of major urban rail networks - which are currently growing faster than any other sector of the passenger railway.’
The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone welcomed plans to treble the number of Thameslink stations and Ian Brown, managing director of TfL London Rail, said ‘This commitment makes a major contribution to the ensuring that London’s public transport network can cope with the increasing demand expected over the coming decades.’
‘The Department for Transport has worked closely with Transport for London and has accepted many of its recommendations, which will put passengers first by reducing delays, improving passenger safety and significantly increasing capacity on routes into, and across, London.’
