Network Rail said that the announcement on Thursday (23 July 2009) from Transport Secretary Lord Adonis of plans to electrify a rail route through Oxfordshire as part of a £1bn investment in the rail network is good news for passengers, the economy and the environment. This came five days after Network Rail began six weeks of engineering work on the Oxford to Worcester line, in preparation for laying a second track along the route by 2011. Network Rail believes this is a good start in what should become a major rolling programme of electrification.

Chief executive Iain Coucher said: "Today is a good start, but there is much further to go. Network Rail has been pushing for electrification for a long time. Indeed in 2007 – along with the Association of Train Operating Companies – we urged the Department for Transport to take the issue seriously.

"Network Rail will deliver the schemes announced today. Passengers will soon reap the benefits that electrified lines bring – quieter and smoother rides on trains that cause less wear and tear to the track, trains that are more reliable and often faster. Further electrification will also help open up more diversionary routes so that we can keep people on trains and off buses as we carry out planned rail improvement work."

Expanding the electrified network has been a long-held ambition for Network Rail and the company is now putting its detailed plans into place to install overhead lines efficiently, at an affordable cost and with minimal disruption.

The announcement follows Network Rail’s publication of a wide ranging strategy for electrification in May this year. The strategy, currently under consultation, outlined the clear benefits of a rolling programme of electrification: lower CO2 emissions, higher levels of train reliability and availability and lower leasing costs. The superior acceleration of electric trains can also help reduce journey times while providing more seats than diesel trains, therefore increasing capacity.

At the moment only 40% of the rail network is electrified, including most of the south east of England, and the main lines from London to Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as the Merseyrail network around Liverpool and the Glasgow suburban network.

The strategy recommended electrifying the busiest 3,000 miles of non-electrified lines including the western route from Paddington to Bristol and Swansea and the midland main line from St Pancras to Derby and Sheffield. Strategic infill would also provide benefits, opening up new routes for electric passenger and freight trains, such as Manchester to Liverpool also announced today.

Network Rail’s concept to install overhead wires is based around a mobile electrification factory concept designed to operate with minimal disruption to the railway while providing a safe working environment for engineers. The concept includes three piling trains and one wiring train which will operate in tandem as one single ‘factory’ unit.
Network Rail said it had an "enviable record" for delivering big engineering projects and its £9bn West Coast main line upgrade - the biggest civil engineering project in Europe - was completed on time and within budget.

Electrification of the lines brings significant benefits operationally as it:

• Reduces rolling stock operating costs
• Reduction in infrastructure operating costs (track wear and tear)
• Increase in rolling stock availability
• Passenger rolling stock replacement
• Security of energy supply (oil price fluctuations)

Passenger will benefit from

• Reduced journey times through quicker acceleration and shorter stopping distances, particularly for suburban services with frequent stops. ATOC estimates that journey time savings are in the region of a quarter of a minute for typical suburban services and half a minute for long distance services per station stop
• Station ambience: electric trains create less noise, and don’t emit exhaust fumes
• Reliability: electric trains generally have a lower failure rate than diesel equivalents, with electric trains twice as reliable (in miles per breakdown terms)
• Reduction in rail replacement services (buses) – more diversionary routes will reduce the need to revert to buses
• New journey opportunities: if electrification is combined with service recasts, it could potentially provide new through journey opportunities.
• Additional seating capacity: on long distance high speed routes, where a diesel train with a separate power car would operate, electrification schemes eliminate the need for a diesel power car. As a result, electric trains on such routes generally provide additional passenger seating capacity within the same overall train length. For example, the two end vehicles of class 390 (Pendolino) trains contain a total of 64 seats.

In the case of freight services, the ability to haul greater trailing loads will reduce the number of freight paths needed freeing up capacity.

As to the ability of Network Rail to achieve it's aim, the  companysaid it had an "enviable record" for delivering big engineering projects and its £9bn West Coast main line upgrade - the biggest civil engineering project in Europe - was completed on time and within budget.