The Guardian states: "A report for the office of the rail regulator by the consultants Booz, Allen & Hamilton had harsh words to say about the lack of investment. 'Track renewals have averaged around 1.3% per annum during the control period (1995-2001). This is low by comparison with European railways, which typically replace around 2-3% per annum, and with the intended renewal rate of 2.2% per annum quoted in the 1995 business plan.
"'Measures of track asset quality and condition have shown some deterioration. Overall, it appears that the physical programmes have in aggregate been below those which were envisaged at the time of the determination. It is likely that there has been a decline in underlying quality of the network assets as a whole.'"
The full article can be found at http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/uk_news/0,2846,89521,00.html
Carl
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