Question reference: S6W-05633
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 13 January 2022
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Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 February 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its draft Budget reduces funding to support the costs of maintenance, safe operation and renewal of the Scottish rail network from £501 million to £427 million; what aspects of maintenance, safe operation and renewal will either be reduced or not go ahead as a result of this, and what the evidential basis is for its conclusions regarding the appropriateness of such a reduction.
Answer
The independent Office of Rail and Road has determined that the five year settlement in Control Period 6 (2019 – 2024) will be £2,245m; this represents a 16% increase compared to £1,925m in Control Period 5 (2014 to 2019). This determination is based on the work Network Rail expects to carry out within the entire funding period.
The overall planned rail infrastructure budget for Control Period 6 (2019 to 2024) remains £2,245m and is continuing to fund Network Rail fully in line with this.
In each year of any 5 year funding period, Network Rail programmes its workbank, which may increase or decrease from year to year, and this defines its in-year funding requirement from the ORR determination. This is why the entry in the Scottish Budget can show year on year increases or decreases.