Great Western Coffee Shop

Sir Peter Hendy today published his review into Network Rail^s five-year funding programme to 2019. Sir Peter has concluded that the majority of the programme can go ahead as planned with extra investment generated primarily from the sale of non-core railway assets.

Announcing the conclusions of his review, Sir Peter Hendy CBE, chairman of Network Rail, said: ^Passengers and businesses are already benefitting from the largest investment by Government in our railways since Victorian times and that will continue.

^The extra investment secures a Railway Upgrade Plan that delivers better stations, faster, more frequent and longer trains and a safer and more reliable railway for millions of passengers and businesses. 

^Working closely with the Department for Transport we have ensured that no infrastructure project has been cancelled and the bulk of the investment programme will be delivered by March 2019.

"Some projects will cost more and take longer than originally expected but we will see the job through to deliver better journeys for passengers.  My review has clearly found that the original plan was unrealistic and undeliverable.

"This new Railway Upgrade Plan is a more robust and deliverable plan but it is not without its own risks and challenges which Network Rail will work tirelessly to address."

Sir Peter^s 44-page report gives an overview of the different parts of the country and what will be delivered. An eight-week consultation by the DfT on the report^s findings will start in early December.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

In June, Sir Peter Hendy CBE was appointed as the new chairman of Network Rail by the Secretary of State for Transport. He was tasked with reviewing Network Rail^s CP5 (Control Period 5, 2014-19) enhancement portfolio which had seen some significant cost and timescale pressures.
Sir Peter has now concluded a thorough review of the enhancement programme, and details what can be delivered in a timely and affordable way. The report can be found at www.networkrail.co.uk/hendy-review/ .
The extra investment has / will come from Network Rail realising ^1.8bn from the sale of some of its extensive property portfolio. The Government has also been able to increase the limit on Network Rail^s Government borrowing by a further ^700 million . The planned sale of assets will also allow Network Rail to focus on its core task of running the railways
The Hendy review looked at Network Rail^s Railway Upgrade Plan for England and Wales.

NOTE - Link in report to actual review does not (yet?) work. I understand:

All train to be bimodes
Cardff 2019
Temple Meads 2020
Oxford later
no mention of when for Newbury

Let's see how accurate that is  ;D

I can't help feeling that if the report had come out on any other day than the day of the Autumn Statement, the press would be making much more of it ... as it is, it feels rather as if it's drowned out by other news.   Perhaps that's not unintended.

The BBC locally were splashing a headline yesterday that all the trains (in context, the GW SET order) would have diesel engines - whatever than means. That's not on the web site.

We still don't have any clarity on whether the SET deliveries are to be rescheduled, or the order modified. The BBC locally were splashing a headline yesterday that all the trains (in context, the GW SET order) would have diesel engines - whatever than means. That's not on the web site.

Well as it stands the Swansea services will need to be operated by bi-modes for several years after their introduction, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the order adjusted so that some 9-car bi-modes will be provided - as we know the engines can removed as and when required.

Swansea to Cardiff rail electrification 'in jeopardy' as delay in project confirmed
http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Swansea-Cardiff-rail-electrification-jeopardy/story-28242671-detail/story.html?

Rail electrification on South Wales mainline could be delayed to 2024
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/rail-electrification-south-wales-mainline-10503465?

The other alternative is to operate electric 801/0s no further than Cardiff and have either a connecting Cardiff-Swansea diesel shuttle and/or find a way to extend the South Coast-Cardiff service to Swansea to provide for onward travel. That must be a better short-term solution than fitting (and subsequently removing) 5 engines on each of the 21 9-car 801/0s which would be needed for fleet flexibility.

That must be a better short-term solution than fitting (and subsequently removing) 5 engines on each of the 21 9-car 801/0s which would be needed for fleet flexibility.

Letter from the Transport Secretary to accept the Hendy report
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479969/hendy-response-letter.pdf

The Chancellor's Spending Review, announced today, reaffirms this commitment, but both our organisations have had to make tough choices,
including your commitment to release ^1 .8 billion of investment through the sale of non-core and lower value assets. We have had to make up for the fact that successive governments have failed to invest the sums necessary to deliver the transport infrastructure our country needs. But we will provide the crucial links that allow people and businesses to prosper.

Does anyone know what these non-core and lower value assets are that NR is going to sell?

I'm not even sure if that means non-core assets and also lower value assets, or (none-core and lower value) assets.  In other words - if something's none-core but has a high value, might it be sold?   What about something that is core, but with lower value?  And how are "core" and "value" defined anyway, and by whom?

Does anyone know what these non-core and lower value assets are that NR is going to sell?

Does anyone know what these non-core and lower value assets are that NR is going to sell?

Debt-laden Network Rail plans sale of power lines to raise ^2bn

Acccountants hired to look into deal that would release funds for core track work

[snip]

KPMG has six months to determine how a sale would best be structured. A likely deal is Network Rail^s distribution network being sold to a private investor, energy utility or National Grid, which would then have a guaranteed revenue stream from charging Network Rail for the use of those pylons and cables.

[snip]

Network Rail is also preparing to outsource its telecoms work, which includes passenger wi-fi and the transmission of signalling information to train drivers. An industry source said the bidding process for this work is ^in the wings^.

    Governance and Programme Management
4.39 Scheme immaturity should not of itself result in cost escalation and delays to the
    programme. But the lack of definition of schemes is symptomatic in my view of the
    shortcomings in the project, programme and portfolio management practices followed by
    both Network Rail and to a lesser extent by the Department. These include, in planning:
  ^ unclear scope definition, coupled with inconsistent change management. The
    Review has found evidence that scope changes were not always managed though
    formal processes, leading to scope creep, a cause of some of the cost escalation
    (and identified by Network Rail in its SBP as responsible for the majority of a ^300m
    increase in costs on Great Western between the HLOS and the SBP, see illustrative
    example 2);
  ^ inconsistent assurance of project management products, as reflected in the poor
    cost estimates used at Final Determination;
  ^ inconsistent understanding, management and in particular escalation of risk; and
  ^ the failure to recognise the full impact of schemes and to integrate projects into
    programmes.

There was no effective mechanism for risks to be identified and escalated within Network Rail or the Department until a cross-industry programme board was instituted in early 2015.

I think we may have a hint of an answer ...

From The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/debt-laden-network-rail-plans-sale-of-power-lines-to-raise-2bn-a6761366.html)