NR makes good start on CP6 efficiency and performance
NETWORK Rail has saved more than £385 million in the first year of Control Period 6 (CP6, 201924), according to the Office of
Rail and Road’s annual assessment of the infrastructure manager published on July 2.
NR is tasked with delivering
£3.5 billion in efficiency savings over CP6, and the regulator says it beat its target for 2019-20.
Passenger performance in terms of delays attributed to NR improved in the Scotland and
Wales & Western regions (although the former was still below target), with the latter praised for implementing a large timetable change while maintaining performance.
Performance was also said to be good on the Southern Region. However, it was lower than the targets set for the North West & Central and Eastern Regions. In the North West & Central Region it was below the ORR’s minimum level and the regulator investigated it earlier this year.
Freight performance also suffered, with a Freight Delivery Metric of 92.8% compared with a target of 94%. Again, it was above target in the Wales & Western
Region and in Scotland, but below in all other regions.
All regions delivered their planned renewals for the year, but on the Eastern Region track and overhead line failure rates were high. NR hit its internal targets for the other four regions.
ORR also notes that the rail network suffered more delays due to severe weather in 201920, stating: “Network Rail must continue to progress its work to develop more robust resilience plans to mitigate against climate change and severe weather.”
Measures of worker safety in 2019-20 show an improvement compared with the previous year, but NR missed its internal target for worker safety as measured by the lost time injury frequency rate. All regions performed strongly against their targets for passenger train accident risk reduction.
The lowest number of trespass deaths for ten years was recorded in 2019-20, while the number of reported trespass incidents was lower than in 2018-19. And while some aspects of safety have improved, ORR says electrical safety incidents have “shown weaknesses in NR’s risk control and raised concern over legal compliance”.
Financially, NR outperformed its CP6 delivery plan by £10m over the year, due to better-thanplanned efficiency savings on its operations, support, maintenance and renewals activities.
In England and Wales, enhancements underperformed financially by £94m, mainly attributed to cost increases on the Great Western Electrification Programme and Crossrail.
Eastern, NR Scotland and Wales & Western all exceeded their efficiency plans, with Eastern delivering the largest efficiency. Southern met its plans, and the North West & Central Region “slightly underdelivered”.
NR’s System Operator function, responsible for fixing the base timetable twice a year, is said to be making improvements to its process, and the ORR credits the May 2019 introduction of electrified services between London and Cardiff. It notes that the timetable contributed to poor performance in the North West & Central Region.
ORR Chief Executive John Larkinson said: “We are very pleased that Network Rail has listened to and acted early on our concerns about making efficiencies, meaning that for the first time in many years it is delivering more efficiently than planned. It also delivered its planned volumes of work, to help keep the network in good condition. This efficient delivery is good news for its customers and funders.
“But performance - in terms of delays to passengers and freight - was uneven and just not good enough in some parts of the network. We will continue to hold Network Rail to account for its performance as services return to a more steady state.
“Working with the industry, Network Rail is looking at what lessons can be learnt from the impact of COVID-19 on how it operates and maintains the railway. This is important work which has the potential to drive further improvements over time.”