Tag: network rail

• Cumbria derailment “a wake-up call”

  With rail getting all the funding it needs, the local LibDem MP has used the derailment of a passenger train in Cumbria to highlight the risk of landslips on the rail network as climate change increases the risks.

  A high-speed Avanti West Coast train said to be travelling at around 80mph partly derailed after hitting a landslide in Cumbria early this morning.

  The operator said all 86 people plus its train crew were evacuated to a nearby hotel and were were assessed by paramedics, with four treated for minor injuries but none requiring hospital treatment.

  

  Former LibDem leader Tim Farron called for an investigation into whether enough resources were being spent on the line.

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  2025.11.03

• ORR spins the cuts to Network Rail

  I’ve been reading the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) Annual assessment of Network Rail 2024 to 2025 alongside the ORR’s press release on that and other reports on the rail industry and it seems as if the ORR is trying to spare the government’s blushes.

  The annual assessment, which is the ORR’s review of Network Rail’s performance during the first year of the five-year control period 7 (CP7), says up front:

  As we noted in our final determination for CP7, funding is constrained, reflecting wider fiscal conditions. In planning for this control period Network Rail has had to make choices about how expenditure should be prioritised to deliver best value for the railway now and in the future. Constrained funding means that Network Rail will be spending less on renewals and more on life-extending repairs and maintenance in CP7 than in CP6. As such, Network Rail forecasts a small reduction in the residual life of its assets, which will require effective risk management activities to be identified and implemented.

  As a result our monitoring of Network Rail for this control period is focussed on these risks, which if not effectively managed could result in a deterioration of train service performance in the latter part of the control period, will make delivering train performance very challenging for Great British Railways in the next funding period, and will lead to inefficient spend on infrastructure in the future.

  The closest the press release comes to addressing this is an opaque quote from chief executive John Larkinson:

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  2025.07.17