£8bn investment announced for Britain's railways

Money will buy new carriages, electrify some lines and see the Thameslink programme go ahead

£8bn is to be invested in Britain's railways, the BBC reports.

The money will go towards approximately 2,000 new carriages, electrifying some lines and going ahead with the Thameslink programme.

1,850 of the new carriages will be used to provide extra capacity of 17 per cent on the network, enabling an extra 185,000 passengers to be carried at any one time. They will finish coming into service until 2019.

Some 600 of the new carriages are for Crossrail, up to 1,200 for Thameslink and 650 will be given to different franchises around the country, which will be used to serve commuters travelling into the big cities.

Lines from Manchester to Liverpool and Manchester to Blackpool are going to be electrified, with electric trains having an operating cost roughly half that of their diesel equivalents, as well as being more reliable and being able to fit more passengers on board.

The Thameslink project is also going to go ahead in full, which will eventually double capacity on the route from Brighton to Bedford, allowing up to 24 trains an hour.

Blackfriars station will be relocated over the Thames as part of the fully approved Thameslink upgrade.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said passengers would start to see the benefits within the next few months.

Patrick Butcher, finance director at Network Rail, said: "We welcome the fact that the government recognises that the railway plays an important role in driving economic growth and this investment proves that."

Further information:
BBC