Western Route Strategic Plan Version 8.0: Delivery Plan submission March 2019 Western Route Strategic Plan Contents Foreword and summary ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Route objectives ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Safety ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Train performance .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 19 Locally driven measures ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 24 Sustainability & asset management capability ....................................................................................................................................................................... 27 Financial performance ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 55 Activities & expenditure .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 58 Delivery strategy .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 63 Headwinds and efficiency .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 71 Risk and uncertainty in the plan ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 73 CP6 regulatory framework ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 76 Sign-off ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 78 Appendix A Stakeholder Engagement ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 79 Appendix B Key assumptions .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 88 Appendix C Route context ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 90 Appendix D Scenario planning................................................................................................................................................................................................... 92 Appendix E Asset by asset long term forecast .......................................................................................................................................................................... 96 Appendix F Freight and National Passenger Operators Route Plan....................................................................................................................................... 100 Appendix G Supporting strategies ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 105 Appendix H List of supporting annexes ................................................................................................................................................................................... 106 Appendix I Glossary of terms ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 107 Network Rail 2 Western Route Strategic Plan Foreword and summary The Great Western Mainline has undergone its most significant upgrade since it was built by Brunel over 175 years ago. Our Control Period 6 (CP6) plan, enabled by the significant investment we delivered in Control Period 5, will deliver 140,000 more trains every year by 2024. These passenger benefits will be realised through completed projects such as the electrification from Paddington to Bristol Parkway and Reading to Newbury, as well as the Crossrail project between central London and Reading. Throughout CP6 we will continue to work hand in hand with our Alliance partner GWR to enable the smooth introduction of further passenger benefits including new timetables that will see a step change in services offered. These new timetables will deliver improved local and long distance high speed services; journey time reductions on specific services and additional new services between major cities supporting passengers, freight, our communities, local businesses and economies. £2.765bn 8% £ expenditure on operations, net financial efficiency plan maintenance & renewals 400km £55m track improvements to reduce delays between Paddington – Airport Jn £47m heritage roof refurbishment 12% increase in train mileage at Bristol Temple Meads 64% 140,000 improvement in workforce ! more trains per year safety from CP5 exit During CP6 the Elizabeth line will open offering passengers ‘metro style’ frequency services from Reading and Heathrow Airport into and across Central London to Canary Wharf, Kent and Essex. We are focussed on successfully introducing the Elizabeth line, integrating it seamlessly with existing services and adopting new ways of working to accommodate the additional services it will bring. Network Rail 3 Western Route Strategic Plan We will continue to improve the reliability of the infrastructure in west London supporting the Heathrow Express service and work with CrossCountry and freight operators to improve the important services they run across our route. Our Strategic Plan improvements will be delivered and are underpinned by five strategic priorities: the first of which is delighting our customers - our passengers, train and freight operators, line-side neighbours, businesses and stakeholders. We will work with train operators to improve passengers’ experience: delivering a reliable train service; improving customer service at our managed stations; improving passenger information during disruption; reducing the impact our infrastructure has on train services and when needed, getting trains back up and running as soon as we can. We value and act on feedback from passengers and will continue to listen and improve based on reports from our Train Operator partners and results from Transport Focus’ National Rail Passenger Survey. Throughout our plan we continue to keep Everyone Home Safe Every Day at the heart of what we do, delivering an even safer railway, further reducing train accident risk and improving passenger, public and workforce safety. Being affordable and efficient with the public funding we receive continues to be a strategic priority and we have a target of delivering a net 8% efficiency plan by 2024. Ultimately our railway is here to support jobs, housing and economic growth, our fourth strategic priority. This is only achieved by a great team and our fifth and final strategic priority, great people and great culture ensures that we recruit, develop and retain a diverse, skilled and motivated team who are driven by great service to passengers. Our plans for CP6 have been developed with ongoing input from our Train Operators and stakeholders, and I thank them for their invaluable contributions. We look forward to working with them to deliver a more reliable, passenger focused, growing and affordable railway for the communities and businesses we serve. Mark Langman Route Managing Director Network Rail 4 Western Route Strategic Plan Network Rail 5 Western Route Strategic Plan Network Rail 6 Western Route Strategic Plan The Western route stretches across the Thames Valley to Oxford, the Cotswolds, South Wales, the West and South West. It encompasses some of Britain’s most important towns and cities, as well as one of Britain’s busiest rail routes, the Great Western Mainline. We own, maintain and operate over 900 miles of railway and manage London Paddington, Reading and Bristol Temple Meads stations. Western Route at a glance in Control Period 6 •