Network Rail has announced the start of its five-year £4.8 billion investment plan to deliver a safe, green, reliable railway for Scotland's passengers, freight customers and taxpayers.

Between April 2024 and March 2029, £4.8bn will be invested across the country to improve punctuality, reduce delays and make Scotland's Railway more resilient in the face of our changing weather.

The plan announced today includes:

• Over £2bn of investment in renewing key infrastructure

• Over £1bn of investment in maintaining Scotland's Railway

• Increased investment in drainage systems and more drainage engineers

• Continued investment in new technology to help monitor the impact of extreme weather

• Installation of more remote monitoring equipment to give early warning of potential issues

• Dedicated plans for taking climate action and reducing the railway's carbon footprint

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• Ambitious plans to reduce costs across Scotland's Railway by adopting new ways of working.

Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland's Railway, said: "The plan we have announced today will help us deliver a safe and reliable railway for our customers and one which supports the social and economic growth of the communities we serve.

"Over the next five years we will continue to invest in renewing and maintaining our infrastructure while also making it more resilient to Scotland's changing weather.

"We will also work closely with our industry partners and government to ensure we deliver a value for money railway for the taxpayers who fund us while improving the service we offer to passengers and freight customers."

Network Rail is funded in five-year cycles, called control periods, with the current one, CP7, running from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2029.

The funding and activity to be delivered is agreed in a long and complex three-year process working closely with the Office of Rail and Road, the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland.

Across Britain, Network Rail will invest a total of £45.4bn over the course of Control Period 7.

The Control Period 7 delivery plan sets out how money will be spent on operations, maintenance and renewals – enhancement projects are funded separately.

More information can be found at: www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/publications-and-resources/our-delivery-plans-for-2024-2029/