Network Rail’s £4.8bn five year plan for Scotland kicks off | Ground Engineering

The plan covers spending on the railway between April 2024 and March 2029 – the period known as Control Period 7 (CP7).

Over the next five years, Network Rail plans to spend a total of £45.4bn across England, Wales and Scotland – or £42.8bn when adjusted to 2023/24 prices. Its CP7 spending plan was approved by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in October last year.

In Scotland, Network Rail has committed to spending over £2bn on renewing key infrastructure out of a budget of £4.8bn.

More than £400M of this will contribute towards the resilience of the network against extreme weather and future changes in climate – including over £100M on earthworks, £100M on lineside infrastructure including drainage, and over £40M on structures like bridges and tunnels.

It also plans to spend more than £1bn on maintenance over the next five years. As well as this, it will increase its investment in drainage systems and hire more drainage engineers, as well as continue to invest in technology to help monitor the impact of extreme weather.

The plan further includes the installation of more remote monitoring equipment to give early warning of potential issues, and dedicated plans for reducing the railway’s carbon footprint.

Scotland’s Railway managing director Alex Hynes said: “Over the next five years we will continue to invest in renewing and maintaining our infrastructure while also making it more resilient to Scotland’s changing weather.

“We will also work closely with our industry partners and government to ensure we deliver a value for money railway for the taxpayers who fund us while improving the service we offer to passengers and freight customers.”

Network Rail’s increased investment in climate change mitigation measures in Scotland has been guided by its Climate Ready Plan.

Published last month by Network Rail Scotland and Scot Rail, the plan sets out the actions that Scotland’s Railway will need to take to improve the resilience of the railway against physical changes in the climate.

Network Rail Scotland and Scot Rail also published plans last month that set out the actions that Scotland’s Railway will take to improve the resilience of the railway against physical changes in the climate.

Its Climate Ready Plan will inform investment across the railway’s infrastructure during the next five year spending period.

Network Rail Scotland’s director of engineering and asset management Alan Ross said: “We know that our climate is changing at an unprecedented rate, and that this is having an impact on Scotland’s Railway.

“In our current climate – which is already warmer and wetter – we know that extreme weather events can impact our railway in a way that causes disruption for our customers.

“Our plan will look at how we can implement new and improved climate science and adaptation capabilities that will strengthen our decision-making processes and help us manage our changing climate in the future.”

Scot Rail director for safety and sustainability David Lister said: “Climate resilience is a strategic priority for Scotland’s Railway, and this plan will keep track and train working together to ensure Scotland’s Railway is adapting to the impacts of climate change while targeting actions that enable the continued safe operation of the railway and reduce the disruption climate change can cause.”

Network Rail has pledged to spend a total of £2.8bn over the next five years on activities and technology that will help it better cope with the impacts of climate change.

It will put more money into its thousands of kilometres of drains, cuttings and embankments to make them more weather resilient.

More than 600,000m of drains will be built or rebuilt, redesigned or see increased maintenance to enable the railway to cope with much heavier rainfall and reduce flooding.

Network Rail will also strengthen over 482km of cuttings or embankments through renewal and refurbishment, while over 1,448km of cuttings or embankments will undergo planned maintenance work.