Network Rail has been set tough new train punctuality targets over the next five years which will permit only one out of 10 trains to be delayed or cancelled.
More than £12bn will be used to ease congestion and improve performance of services as part of a £21bn overhaul of the rail network.
Another £100m will be spent improving safety at level crossings in an effort to cut the number of deaths.
In terms of the day to day running of the rail network, nine out of 10 trains must be on time on all regional, London and South East and Scotland services for the period – starting in April 2014.
For passengers making longer journeys on the West Coast Mainline fewer than three in 100 services and on the East Coast Mainline fewer than four in 100 trains should be cancelled or delayed by more than 30 minutes by 2019.
In the last year, nine people were killed on level crossings and there were 354 near misses.
The money is being given to Network Rail amid fears the number of deaths could rise.
It will be used to replace some of the most dangerous crossings with bridges and improve technology to make gates more secure.
Anna Walker from the Office of Rail Regulation told Sky News: “Level crossings aren’t just a risk to individuals, to the public, though they are that, but they’re also a risk to those travelling on trains.
“If there’s an accident at a level crossing that can lead to a derailment of a train as well.”
It is estimated there were around 7,000 level crossings in England, Scotland and Wales. Network Rail says over the last five years it has closed around 10% of them, with plans to shut a further 500 before 2019.
Schoolgirls Olivia Bazlinton, 14, and Charlotte Thompson, 13, were hit and killed by a high speed train at a crossing near Elsenham station in Essex in 2005.
The friends had been trying to catch a train to go Christmas shopping but failed to see the service coming towards them from the opposite direction.
Six years after their deaths it emerged Network Rail had failed to disclose to their inquests that in 2002 a risk assessment had recommended the gates at the crossing should automatically lock as a train approached.
Olivia’s father, Chris Bazlinton, told Sky News more needs to be done to improve safety at crossings.
He said: “£100m is an improvement – it will do perhaps 1,000 crossings for closing, improving and so on.
“They have already closed 700 in the last couple of years and they have improved a lot of others. I’d like to see a lot more spent, but it’s an improvement.”
ORR chief executive Richard Price said the plans would help create a “safer, higher-performing and more-efficient railway”.
“More level crossings will be upgraded or closed; passengers will enjoy better punctuality and suffer fewer cancellations; customers should have a say in shaping billions of pounds of new investment on the network; and the company will continue to bring down the day-to-day costs of running the railways,” he said.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of rail customer watchdog Passenger Focus, said: “Passengers want safe, reliable train services and more and longer trains to cope with rising passenger numbers.
“This large investment is welcome, and these industry targets should help underpin NR’s plans. However, passengers will want to see these revised punctuality targets being met.”
Source Article from http://uk.news.yahoo.com/network-rail-gets-100m-rail-safety-060748529.html
Train Punctuality: Network Rail Set New Targets
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