Network Rail has unveiled a five year £38Bn spending and investment programme to relieve bottlenecks, provide increased capacity and upgrade stations. This figure is up from the £34Bn announced for the previous five year period from 2009.

Control Period 5 (2014-19) will see £13Bn spent on capital expenditure projects targeting the busiest parts of Britain’s rail network. Network Rail's chief executive Mark Carne said millions of passengers and freight users will benefit enormously from the plans that will transform some of the busiest parts of our railway network.

But the spending announcement came as Network Rail confirmed that it faces a large fine from the Office of Rail Regulation this summer for missing a train punctuality target.

A Network Rail spokesman said that missing the target was disappointing. “While we have been successful in making our infrastructure more reliable, it hasn't been enough to offset the difficulties caused by excessive congestion or bouts of extreme weather."

Network Rail's spending plan for Control Period 5 promises better services between cities in the north of England, electrification of more than 1370km of railway and upgrading major stations including Manchester Victoria, Birmingham New Street, Glasgow Queen Street and London Bridge.

At London Bridge, two new platforms were brought into use on Monday as part of a £6.5Bn Thameslink programme to upgrade the station and provide greater capacity for passengers using services between Bedford and Brighton.

(Image: Network Rail)

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