Rail firm to cut track repair bill

Network Rail (NR) wants to slash £5bn from its maintenance bill over the next five years by cutting repairs to branch lines.

The not-for-profit company, which replaced Railtrack, is under pressure to convince rail regulator Tom Winsor it is offering value for money.

Mr Winsor will shortly announce how much NR will be able to charge train companies for using its track.

NR has already said it plans to axe 2,000 jobs over the next three years in an effort to cut costs.

'Prioritising'

Some maintenance contracts have also been brought back in-house.

Under the latest proposals, some rail track renewal work will be put back two years and resources will be switched from rural and freight lines to main commuter lines.

But Network Rail's chief executive John Armitt said there would be no effect on services.

"While there may be some reduction in the quality of the infrastructure, we don't expect it to be significant.

"We still expect to be able to run the same services," he told BBC One's Breakfast.

He said the £5bn would be saved by "prioritising our activities".

And he still expected punctuality to have reached 90% by the end of 2009, in line with Network Rail's own targets.

Last year, punctuality was running at 79%.

The revised NR business plan had been expected to reveal the company would spend £24.6bn over the next five years rather than the figure of £29.5bn it announced in June this year.

The June figure had already been reduced by 20% from the original figure of £35bn announced in March 2003.

Rail regulator Tom Winsor is due to make his final decision on the future cost, size and quality of Britain's rail network in December.

Union attack

The biggest rail union, the RMT, said NR's proposed cuts would compromise safety and would not deliver efficiency.

General Secretary Bob Crow said the proposals were the "thin end of the wedge" for rural railways.

"You cannot create efficiency by replacing planned maintenance with planned neglect.

"Efficiency is in everyone's interests, but Network Rail is looking under the wrong stone for it.

"If the deliberate run-down of parts of the network results in a serious accident, those responsible for the decision will have blood on their hands."

He said the only way to deliver greater efficiency was to bring maintenance back in-house.