On 12 October 2017, Britain’s Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced that £48 billion (EUR 53.5 billion) will be invested from 2019 to 2024 to implement railway infrastructure projects.
The funding comes on top of record rail funding over the past 5 years as the government delivered the biggest rail modernisation programme for over a century.
“This investment is about boosting reliability and punctuality for millions of journeys, and we will do this alongside building major upgrades around the country and delivering new, faster, more comfortable trains,” Grayling said.
In addition, Transport Secretary confirmed there will also be a new funding process for major upgrades and enhancements which will provide more rigour in investment decisions to make sure public spending best meets the needs of passengers and freight.
The Statement of funds available for the rail industry continues the government’s record investment with a direct grant of up to £34.7 billion (EUR 38.7 billion) for spending between 2019 and 2024. Total spending will be around £47.9 billion once Network Rail’s expected income is calculated and added to the pot.
The investment includes funding for the early stages of developing new rail schemes. But the government will allocate funds separately for major upgrades following a new process to ensure they are deliverable and secure the best value for money for the tax payer.
HS2 and Crossrail are among country’s iconic railway projects. HS2 is evaluated at EUR 61.7 billion (£55.7 billion), and it will be constructed within two phases. For the first phase of HS2, which includes the railway between London and West Midlands, the necessary investments amount to EUR 30 billion (£27.18 billion). The railway will provide direct services to London and Birmingham on a 225-km high-speed railway. The Government announced the winners of Phase One main construction contracts with a total cost of EUR 7.5 billion (£6.6 billion). Recently, High Speed Two Ltd has started to search companies for the construction of the two London stations at Euston and Old Oak Common.
Crossrail consists of the construction of a new railway in London and South East through 42 km of tunnels, the construction of 10 stations and the modernisation of another 30 stations. With costs amounting to £14.8 billion (EUR 16.8 billion), the railway will be delivered on time as of 2018 and will transform the entire rail transport system of London and the south-east region increasing transport capacity by 10%. In September, the project marked a new success with the official completion of laying the permanent track which included the installation of 63 000 sleepers and 51.4 km of rail.
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