A £2.4 billion expansion of the railways over the next two years was announced yesterday by Network Rail.

The programme will include lengthening hundreds of platforms, increasing speeds on some lines, and new tracks and resignalling schemes.

John Armitt, chief executive of Network Rail, said that the programme was a response by the company to the rising demand for rail travel.

The £2.44 billion “enhancements” will be carried out from this month to March 2009.

Network Rail will fund £1.73 billion of the schemes, with the rest of the money coming from other stakeholders in the railways, including the Department for Transport and local authorities. At £1.2 billion a year, the total is more than double the average annual spending on enhancements.

Schemes being worked on over the next two years include projects connected with the 2012 Olympics, on which £109 million will be spent by March 2009.

About two thirds of a £300 million new line between Airdrie and Bathgate in Scot-land will be completed over the next two years. Other projects include new platforms at Manchester airport station and King’s Cross, London, as well as £165 million of new track in the Trent Valley.

Mr Armitt said: “The railway is thriving. Demand for rail continues to grow and today’s news outlines Network Rail’s response to those demands. Three million people use the railways each day, more than at any time in the past 60 years, and we’re not standing still waiting for the big infrastructure projects to be delivered.

We are doing something about it now by moving forward with hundreds of small schemes around the country that will add capacity and ease crowding. Over £1 billion per year will be spent on expanding and growing the railway network.“We will never lose sight of the imperative to run a safe and reliable railway each and every day, but responding to the challenge of growth becomes a new and important priority for the company.”

The announcement follows an unhappy period for Network Rail. The company accepted the initial findings of a preliminary rail accident investigation which said that the February derailment in Cumbria was caused by faulty points. A woman of 84 died and more than 20 people were injured in the incident, five seriously.

The Office of Rail Regulation also expressed concern that the company was underspending on the railways.

Last week Network Rail was fined £4 million for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act by its predecessor Railtrack in connection with the 1999 Paddington rail disaster, which claimed 31 lives.

The Thameslink upgrade programme remains a priority for Network Rail, with work also continuing on redevelopment plans for Birmingham New Street and Reading stations.

Other schemes include increasing capacity at Edinburgh Waverley (£49 million); the Great Eastern overhead line rebuilding scheme (£50 million); a track doubling scheme from Gretna to Annan (£35 million); Hull docks schemes (£9 million); Luton station redevelopment (£10 million); a new platform at Wakefield Westgate (£1.4 million); and car park extensions at Virgin West Coast stations (£90 million).

Anthony Smith, the chief executive of Passenger Focus, the customer watchdog, said: “At last we’ve broken free from simply maintaining and replacing track and signals and are moving towards expanding the network to make space to run more and longer trains. In addition this looks more like a shopping list rather than the wish lists we’ve had in the past. These plans are costed and look likely to happen.

“The 1,000 extra carriages recently announced by the Department for Transport will mean more work is needed in the future to fit them in . . .We’ll be keeping a close eye on the fares charged to pay for these improvements and the disruption caused by the works.”

Bob Crow, the general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union, said: “This is a good start. It is important that money is spent wisely and not wasted.”

Fast track to improvement

Schemes to be completed or to start in the next two years

Airdrie to Bathgate New line £214m-£300m
Brigg line, Humber Freight enhancements £9m
Bristol Parkway New platforms £10m
East Midlands Parkway New station £24m
Grays, Essex Platform extension £3m
King’s Cross Extra platform £15m
Manchester airport New platforms £15m
Newport station New platform £5m
London Olympics Schemes £109m-£400m
Thameslink Station at St Pancras £78m
Trent Valley Track doubling scheme £165m-£300m
South Wales Platform extensions £13m-£14m

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