Rail Investment (Hansard, 10 December 2001)

§ Chris Grayling
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his Department's budget was for(a) payments to Railtrack and (b) investment in the rail infrastructure in 2001–02; and what the projected outturn is. [18935]

§ Mr. Drew
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much money(a) public and (b) private investment has provided for the railways in each year since privatisation of the railways. [21712]
554W

§ Mr. Jamieson
Information on investment in railways is contained in the latest (September 2001) edition of the Strategic Rail Authority bulletin "National Rail Trends". All investment in the four years 1997–98 to 2000–01 was undertaken by the private sector.

§ Chris Grayling
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) how much was Railtrack's most recent estimate of the network's infrastructure investment needs in Control Period 2 of 2001 to 2006; [18956]
(2) what is the Government's most recent estimate of the network's infrastructure investment needs in Control Period 2 of 2001 to 2006; [18958]
(3) how much money had been allocated to Railtrack for renewals, maintenance and operating expenses for Control Period 2 of 2001 to 2006 prior to administration. [18946]

§ Mr. Jamieson
My Department's 2001–02 budget for payments to Railtrack by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is £497 million, comprising £335 million for network grant payable under the 2 April agreement between the Government and Railtrack and £162 million for network grant in respect of the (October 2000) final conclusions of the Rail Regulator's periodic review of access charges. Projected outturn is £498.6 million, the £1.6 million variation from budget reflecting an allowance for inflation under the 2 April agreement.
While my Department has no 2001–02 budget for direct investment in rail infrastructure, its budget for SRA payments of network grant to Railtrack and of Support for Passenger Services (SPRS) to train operating companies (TOCs) takes account of the Regulator's review. That review set the level of passenger access charges to be paid to Railtrack by TOCs, most of which receive SPRS. Much of Railtrack's infrastructure investment is remunerated through access charges, which provided some 85 per cent. of Railtrack's income last year.
It is difficult in practice to distinguish between investment in renewals and maintenance and investment in enhancement. The Regulator's review set passenger access charges at a level designed to enable Railtrack to increase both types of investment expenditure. The Ten Year Plan for Transport, published in July 2000, provided for extra expenditure on both types of investment. The SRA's Strategic Plan, to be published shortly, will set out the SRA's plans for delivering the Ten Year Plan targets within the levels of funding provided for in the Ten Year Plan.
Information about the network grant allocated to Railtrack for the management and provision of assets in Control Period 2 (CP2, 2001–06) is contained in the answer I have given today (PQ 18947).