£28.5 billion is to be spent on Britain's rail infrastructure over the next five years as Network Rail has accepted the Office of Rail Regulation's (ORR) rail spending budget for 2009 to 2014.

From 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2014 (control period 4, CP4), Network Rail will invest almost £7.6bn on projects designed to relieve crowding by lengthening platforms and increasing capacity to enable more trains to run. £10.8bn will be invested in renewals - replacing older parts of the network.

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A further £10bn will be spent on day-to-day maintenance and the costs of operating and running the network over the period.

Iain Coucher, Chief Executive of Network Rail, said: "The next five years will see unprecedented investment in expanding the network and improving services for passenger and freight users.

"The task the ORR has set us is a tough one with ambitious savings to be made and further service improvements to deliver, but we are determined to succeed."

(CD/BMcC)