Network Rail under fire from regulator ahead of massive series of upgrades
Concerns are being raised over the ability of Network Rail to deliver a massive, multi-billion pound series of upgrades to Britain’s ageing railway infrastructure, it was revealed on Monday.
According to the Times, the Office of Rail and Road has said the state-owned infrastructure manager had completed detailed designs for just a third of the work it was set to carry out in the next year.
The regulator also claimed Network Rail was lagging on the talent front too, claiming it had hired just one-tenth of the 682 additional full-time staff needed for its catalogue of upgrades.
Monday marked the start of a new five-year regulatory period for the railways, with £42bn of upgrades planned.
The Times noted that the beginning of the previous five-year period was beset with delays, suspensions and cost-blowouts on upgrade work in the Midlands and the North, as well as the since-truncated electrification scheme on the Great Western route.
Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines reportedly claimed the organisation was “better prepared” for the new five-year period than it was in 2014, but the Office of Rail and Road said only 38% of projects planned for the next 12 months had been signed off with detailed designs by the beginning of February.
That was a far cry from the 60% internal target that had been set for the £3.3bn worth of work expected to be carried out in the 2019-2020 period.
“We are concerned that further progress has not been made,” said the Office of Rail and Road in a report.
The concerns come hot on the heels of new strategies from the regulator, announced last week, which were intended to better hold Network Rail to account over delays and overruns.
Under the plans, senior staff at Network Rail could be forced to give up some of their performance-related bonuses to fund railway improvements, if they were found directly at fault when things went pear-shaped.
Staff bonuses at Network Rail totalled £52m in the 2017-2018 financial year.