Britain's Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has told infrastructure manager Network Rail it must cut its operating, maintenance and renewals costs by 21% by 2014. ORR has ruled that Network Rail will need ￡26.5 billion in income between 2009 and 2014 to deliver significant improvements in reliability, safety and capacity, ￡1.6 billion less than its revenue income in 2004-09 and 10% lower than Network Rail's forecast of ￡29 billion. ￡7.5 billion has been allocated for capacity enhancements, compared with the ￡9 billion Network Rail says it needs. "This is a big challenge for Network Rail, but we believe it is achievable," says ORR chairman Mr Chris Bolt. "This is only the start. The industry needs to become cheaper, closer to the needs of customers, quicker to respond to changing needs, and better at planning for the future."
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