§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2002,Official Report, column 369W, on the Strategic Rail Authority for what reasons (a) the expected amount of private investment under the plan will not exactly match that envisaged under the 10-year Plan and (b) infrastructure renewals are defined as investment. [45496]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Strategic Rail Authority have indicated in their Strategic Plan that the total amount of private sector investment envisaged will be very similar to that envisaged in the 10-year Plan. They have also indicated that the precise amount will depend on the pace of negotiations and the terms that can be negotiated.
Infrastructure renewals, which are the replacement or updating of railway assets to make them fit for use on the railway network, create assets that have a useful life over more than one accounting period. Under accounting rules, they can therefore be properly accounted for as investment to be amortised over the expected accounting life of the assets. Railtrack's current accounting policies reflect this, as did British Rail's when that organisation still existed.