01/11/2007 04:20:06
An investment in 1,700 new carriages will provide travellers on the UK's railways with an extra 100,000 seats a day by 2014, according to Network Rail.
The extra capacity is part of the company's Strategic Rail Plan, which sets out rail network improvement and modernisation plans for 2009 to 2014.
Network Rail says that £30 billion must be spent on the railway infrastructure over the five-year period, with almost £10 billion used to tackle overcrowding through expansion. By 2014, it aims to have almost halved the cost of running the railway compared to ten years previously.
Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher said: "Growth and expansion is where we will focus our efforts in the years ahead and today's plan highlights a raft of small, medium and large expansion schemes that will provide passengers and freight users with a bigger, better railway that delivers more trains, more seats, more often.
"Our vision... is to deliver a railway where passengers have a safe, reliable, comfortable and environmentally-friendly train service."
The plan forms part of the ongoing review of Network Rail's budget by the Office of Rail Regulation. It includes key rail projects already announced, such as the £455 million track redevelopment at Reading station.