§ Mrs. CaltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on(a) maintenance and (b) upgrade of the West Coast Main Line in each year since 1997; and what the purpose of the expenditure was in each case. [146570]
§ Mr. McNultyAnnual expenditure on the maintenance and upgrade of the West Coast Main Line is as follows:
£ million Maintenance Upgrade programme Total 1997–98 117 126 243 1998–99 118 170 288 1999–2000 115 313 428 2000–01 118 687 805 2001–02 123 781 904 2002–03 126 970 1,096 2003–04 126 1,536 1,662 The maintenance expenditure in the table is defined as that required to keep the existing railway infrastructure assets operational.
Upgrade programme expenditure relates to a range of activities intended to renew existing life-expired assets, and delivery of the associated enhancement works needed to increase line speeds and route capacity.