Network Rail Control Periods are the 5-year timespans into which

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

, the owner and operator of most of the

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

infrastructure in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, works for financial and other planning purposes. Each Control Period begins on 1 April and ends on 31 March to coincide with the

financial year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many j ...

. These periods were inherited from

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...

, so that the earlier ones are retrospective, and not necessarily of 5 years duration. As Network Rail is responsible for developing and maintaining railway infrastructure, the Control Periods are used to decide priorities for investment. Infrastructure developments have taken place or are planned as follows:

Control Period 1 (CP1): 1995–1999

Control Period 2 (CP2): 1999–2004

Control Period 3 (CP3): 2004–2009

CP3 included the following work: *Additional express services from Edinburgh to Aberdeen *Improved interchange at

Gourock Gourock ( ; gd, Guireag ) is a town in the Inverclyde council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is as a r ...

Control Period 4 (CP4): 2009–2014

CP4 included the following work as part of the Enhancements Programme: *

Airdrie–Bathgate rail link The Airdrie–Bathgate rail link is a completed railway project in central Scotland. Instigated as part of a round of transport improvement projects proposed by the then Scottish Executive in 2003, the plan was to open up a fourth direct railw ...

* Electrification of the Liverpool to Manchester northern route * Electrification of the

Liverpool–Wigan line The Liverpool–Wigan line is a railway line in the north-west of England, running between Liverpool Lime Street and Wigan North Western via St Helens Central station. The line is a part of the electrified Merseyrail Liverpool to Wigan City L ...

between Huyton Junction and Wigan North Western * Electrification of the

Manchester–Preston line The Manchester–Preston line runs from the city of Manchester to Preston, Lancashire, England. It is largely used by commuters entering Manchester from surrounding suburbs and cities, but is also one of the main railway lines in the North West ...

(via Bolton) and the

Blackpool branch lines The Blackpool branch lines are two railway branch lines running from the West Coast Main Line at Preston to Blackpool: The main branch which is double track and electrified, runs to Blackpool North station (Blackpool's main passenger station ...

between Preston and Blackpool North. As a spin off the branch line between

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

and Wigan North Western is also due to be electrified * Electrification of the Windermere branch line * Redevelopment of

Edinburgh Waverley station Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...

* Redevelopment of

Birmingham New Street station Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Avanti West Coast services from , and vi ...

(

Gateway Plus The Gateway Plus (previously known as Birmingham Gatewayand now known as Grand Central) project was a redevelopment scheme that regenerated Birmingham New Street railway station and the Pallasades Shopping Centre above it in Birmingham, Englan ...

) * Redevelopment of King's Cross station * Redevelopment of

Reading station Reading railway station is a major transport hub in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is on the northern edge of the town centre, near the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames, from . Reading is the ninth-busiest station in th ...

* The

Thameslink Programme The Thameslink Programme, originally Thameslink 2000, was a £6billion project in south-east England to upgrade and expand the Thameslink rail network to provide new and longer trains between a wider range of stations to the north and to the ...

Control Period 5 (CP5): 2014–2019

CP5 includes: *

London Bridge station London Bridge is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Southwark, south-east London. It occupies a large area on three levels immediately south-east of London Bridge, from which it takes its name. The m ...

redevelopment * Completion of

Borders Railway The Borders Railway connects the city of Edinburgh with Galashiels and Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders. The railway follows most of the alignment of the northern part of the Waverley Route, a former double-track line in southern Scotland a ...

East West Rail East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. In particular, it plans to build (or rebuild) a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keyne ...

from to or via his plan was first deferred to CP6 and, in December 2017, transferred to a private sector company to build and operateTransport Secretary officially launches East West Railway Company at Bletchley Park
East West Rail, 22 November 2017 * Electrification from London Paddington to Bristol, Cardiff, Oxford and Newbury * Electrification from Bedford to Kettering and Corby * Electrification of Transpennine line from Manchester to Leeds * Electrification of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line * Electrification of Leeds - York and Selby lines * Electrification and station redevelopment

Bromsgrove railway station Bromsgrove railway station serves the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, England. It is located at the foot of the two-mile Lickey Incline which ascends at a gradient of 1-in-37.7 towards Barnt Green on the line between Birmingham and Worceste ...

* Reading, Ascot to Waterloo 10-car platform lengthening. * The Streatham Resignalling Project (As a part of the Victoria Phase II Project) * The Sutton-Wimbledon Project (As a part of the Victoria Phase II Project) CP5 is running over budget and some projects are to be delayed. In July 2015, Sir

Peter Hendy Peter Gerard Hendy, Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill (born 19 March 1953) is a British transport executive and politician. He is the current chairman of Network Rail and was formerly the Commissioner of Transport for London. Education Hendy was ...

was appointed Chairman of Network Rail "and asked by the Secretary of State to conduct a thorough review of the enhancement programme in England & Wales to see what can be delivered in an affordable and timely way within the funding period to 2019". (Table 37 of the report lists the revised work programme for CP5). Additionally, Dame

Colette Bowe Dame Mary Colette Bowe (born 1946) is an English entrepreneur and former civil servant. Born in Liverpool, Bowe has a PhD in economics from Queen Mary University of London. In her executive career, she was in the UK civil service from 1975 to ...

will investigate how future investment programmes could be implemented better.

Control Period 6 (CP6): 2019–2024

In July 2017, the Department for Transport published the "high level output specification" for Control Period 6. In October 2017, a Statement of Funds Available report was published which announced that £48 billion would be allocated for CP6. In October 2018, the

Office of Rail Regulation The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...

approved of the spending plans which include spending £7.7bn on spending of maintaining the existing railway and £16.6bn for renewing the railways . In February 2018, Network Rail announced its strategic business plan for CP6; the plan will prioritize performance and reliability improvements over major new schemes. In February 2019, Network Rail approved of its spending plan and had no objections to the ORR’s decision on spending. It would publish its spending plan at the end of March 2019. In September 2019, Network Rail and the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

released the future of the

Island Line Island Line or Island line may refer to: * Island line (MTR), one of the lines of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong * Island Line, Isle of Wight, a railway line on the Isle of Wight, England ** Island Line (brand) Island Line is a brand of the ...

, which include adding a new passing loop at Brading and upgrading Ryde pier and bring new trains to the Isle of Wight.

Control Period 7 (CP7): 2024–2029

On 1st December 2022, the Transport Secretary published the High Level Output Statement for Control Period 7 and confirmed via the Statement Of Funds Available that £44bn would be made available to Network Rail for that Control Period. As of the same date, Network Rail has not yet published its plan for Control Period 7, setting out the capital projects that it will deliver. However, the Transpennine North Upgrade project has previously confirmed that it will go into both Control Period 7 and Control Period 8.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Control Period 4 plans

Control Period 5 plans

Initial Industry Plans 2011
Network Rail