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Rail upgrade plans to be outlined Railways strategy outlined to MPs
(about 5 hours later)
The government is expected to announce plans to spend billions of pounds to remove bottlenecks on the rail network. The transport secretary has set out plans to spend billions of pounds to ease overcrowding on trains.
Measures to increase capacity to cope with growing passenger numbers are also set to be in a White Paper unveiled by new Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly. Ruth Kelly said £10bn would be invested by 2014 to increase services and make trains longer as she outlined the government's rail strategy to MPs.
There are likely to be details of 1,300 new carriages on the network - 300 more than first announced earlier this year. She said by 2030 she wanted the railway network to carry twice the number of passengers and freight.
The Tories dismissed the White Paper as containing "reheated announcements that are years later than promised".The Tories dismissed the White Paper as containing "reheated announcements that are years later than promised".
Station improvements Ms Kelly said £600m would be spent on tackling "bottlenecks" at Birmingham and Reading and there would be 1,300 new carriages to ease overcrowding.
Planned improvements to Birmingham New Street, Reading station and London's Thameslink route are also expected in the government's plans. Thameslink plan
It is set to give the go-ahead for the delayed £3.5bn upgrade of the crowded cross-London line. A £5.5bn north-south cross-London Thameslink project was given the go-ahead and Ms Kelly said by 2014, the aim was that 92.6% of trains would run on time - currently the figure is 88%.
Ms Kelly may announce that the limit on rises for advance saver fares of 1% above inflation will be removed. She told MPs that the government had drawn up "the most ambitious strategy for growth on the railways in over 50 years".
Platform extensions, longer trains and the possible reopening of disused lines could also feature in the White Paper. "Our challenge today is not about managing decline," she said.
Although the punctuality of trains has improved overcrowding is still a problem.
George Muir, director-general of the Association of Train Operating Companies, described the proposals as the "first plausible plan for expanding the railway" in recent years.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the funding for longer trains could be expected to come from growing passenger revenues, with government support needed for many of the other planned improvements.
HAVE YOUR SAY Proper investment in high speed rail links would minimise the need for internal flights Kay, Liverpool Send us your commentsHAVE YOUR SAY Proper investment in high speed rail links would minimise the need for internal flights Kay, Liverpool Send us your comments
"Instead, it's about how we can build on this solid progress to provide a railway that carries more passengers, on more and better trains and on more frequent, reliable, safe and affordable service."
While government money for the railways will amount to £15.3bn between 2009 and 2014, passenger fares are expected to make up £39.2bn in the same period.
Ms Kelly also there would be a "radical simplification" of the fares structure with rises in saver fares capped at 1% above inflation.
'False dawn'
For the Tories, Theresa Villiers said it was another "false dawn" for the £15bn Crossrail scheme - a proposed high-speed rail link from Berkshire to Essex via central London - saying it was "getting more distant by the day".
She added that while Ms Kelly had claimed "real acheivements" overcrowded trains were packed so tight "it would be a criminal offence to transport animals in the same conditions".
And Lib Dem transport spokeswoman Susan Kramer said the White Paper was a "missed opportunity" to get people out of cars and planes and onto the railways and suggested most of the money outlined had been announced before.
And she said it "seems extraordinary" that the government had not made more mention of Crossrail in the paper.
Ms Kelly said the government was committed to Crossrail and was currently trying to "pin down" private sector funding, to match government funding.
George Muir, director-general of the Association of Train Operating Companies, described the proposals as the "first plausible plan for expanding the railway" in recent years.
But passenger groups have been angered that some train companies have raised off-peak prices by up to 20%, and the system of franchising routes has come under criticism.But passenger groups have been angered that some train companies have raised off-peak prices by up to 20%, and the system of franchising routes has come under criticism.
Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT union, said passengers were "already paying through the nose to subsidise the profit habits of fat-cat franchisees and train-leasing companies".
'Most overcrowded
BBC transport correspondent Tom Symonds says the announcement may disappoint those hoping for bigger thinking on the future of the railways, such as plans for a new high-speed rail link between London and Scotland.
Brian Cooke, chairman of London TravelWatch, which represents the interests of passengers, said extra capacity was urgently needed in the capital.
This government has broken so many transport promises in the past, why should anyone believe them now Theresa VilliersShadow transport secretary
"Over 70% of all national rail journeys are to, or through, London. London's rail travellers pay the highest fares and London's train operators are paying the highest premiums to the government for running train services," he said.
"London's train services are the most overcrowded, with use of rail in London growing much faster than projected."
Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers said nothing had changed under the new prime minister, Gordon Brown.
"There'll be a lot of hype and spin about the future of the railways to disguise a series of reheated announcements that are years later than promised," she said.
"If they do announce progress on the Thameslink 2000 of course that would be welcome but the project is already 7 years late.
"This government has broken so many transport promises in the past, why should anyone believe them now?"