Rail Industry responds to Network Rail Strategic Business Plans
Peter Loosley, Policy Director at the Railway Industry Association, said: “The publication
today of Network Rail’s Strategic Business Plans is another key milestone in establishing the
final funding envelope for the next 5-year funding Period - Control Period 6 - which will run
from 2019 to 2024.
“The rail supply sector will be particularly interested to see how Network Rail’s Strategic
Business Plans (SBPs) will ensure a smoother spread of renewals volumes and expenditure
over CP6 to provide the opportunity for suppliers to deliver more efficiently and give them
the confidence to invest in new processes, people and plant. What we collectively must
avoid is a repeat of the ‘boom and bust’ cycle of renewals expenditure which has plagued
both CP5 and its predecessors.
“We will therefore be looking very carefully at the Network Rail SBPs and will respond to the
Office of Road and Rail (ORR) accordingly.
“As the Railway Industry Association’s (RIA) Chief Executive, Darren Caplan, made clear at
his recent appearance before the Transport Select Committee, it is important that the
industry gets together collectively to ensure that workbank volumes are both visible and as
smooth as possible throughout future Control Periods. Together we can, and must, achieve
this in order to deliver rail infrastructure improvements more efficiently.”
Notes to Editors
- Network Rail’s Strategic Business Plan can be found here.
- About the Railway Industry Association: The Railway Industry Association (RIA) is the
representative body for UK-based suppliers to the UK and world-wide railways. It has some 200
companies in membership and the sector employs 240,000 people and contributes annually £11
billion Gross Value Added (GVA). It is also a growing industry with the number of rail journeys
expected to double over the next 25 years and freight set to grow significantly too. RIA’s
membership is active across the whole of railway supply, covering a diverse range of products and
services and including both multi-national companies and SMEs (60% by number). RIA works to
promote the importance of the rail system to UK plc, to help export UK expertise around the globe
and to share best practice and innovation across the industry.