HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : SRA Invites Bids for £400 million Rail Performance Fund [May 2002]

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 14 May 2002.

Britain’s railway industry has been invited to join forces with the SRA to co-fund small scale investments aimed at providing shorter-term and lasting improvements to the performance of passenger and freight services.

Bidding guidance is being distributed to relevant industry operators and stakeholders for accelerated projects that can be completed within a year, and also for longer term development projects. The SRA’s Rail Performance Fund (RPF) is a partnership funding scheme. It has a total budget of £400 million over ten years and is open to applications from across the rail network. For the present time, a passenger franchise operator must act as the lead project sponsor. Each bid will be assessed on a case by case basis.

Examples of investments that would qualify for RPF funding include rolling stock modifications to improve reliability of trains, such as upgraded componentry; track and signalling infrastructure, for example the provision of additional and upgraded infrastructure to improve reliability; systems and process improvements including enhanced IT processes and data logging services.

Launching the SRA’s new bidding guidance today, SRA Chairman, Richard Bowker said:

“The Rail Performance Fund will help to fulfil one of the SRA’s primary objectives of working with the rail industry to achieve substantial and lasting improvements in performance. This fund enables us to co-invest with rail companies in quick win schemes to deliver a better and more reliable service for passengers and freight. We have already had over 85 expressions of interest from the rail industry and expect them to convert into formal RPF bids now that the official guidance is out.

“The fund will work alongside our existing, and already successful, Rail Passenger Partnership and Freight Facilities Grant schemes to make a noticeable difference to the service that the industry provides to its customers.”

Notes to Editors

1. Copies of the Rail Performance Fund Bidding Guidance can be viewed on the SRA website (address below).

2. Schemes where preliminary interest in RPF co-funding has already been expressed include modifications to enhance rolling stock and IT systems plus additional and upgraded infrastructure.

3. The RPF was first outlined in the SRA’s Strategic Plan (January 2002). The scheme provides funding for performance improvement projects that cannot be commercially funded by the private sector and third parties alone. The fund can also be used to accelerate the implementation of existing performance improvement projects.

4. Applications for funding can be submitted by rail stakeholders, either as individuals or in consortia with others. Each RPF application will require a passenger franchise Train Operating Company as the lead sponsor. The application will be assessed on its deliverability and capacity to improve performance to the rail network and societal gains. At a later date, the fund may be extended to cover bids directly from Railtrack, ROSCO’s, non-franchised operators (like Heathrow Express) and local authorities and PTE’s.

5. The Rail Performance Fund Bidding Guidance outlines the stages of the bidding process. The process is divided into two types of projects – accelerated projects that can be implemented within one year and development projects for which project development is less well advanced. RPF bid submissions will be appraised by the SRA. Successful bids will be recommended to the RPF Project Board for approval and a letter of offer will be issued. On award of the RPF payment, the SRA will monitor the delivery of the project against the contract to ensure that the objectives are met. The RPF Board will draw on experts across the SRA, as well as independent consultants.

6. The SRA budget for RPF in the first financial year (2002/03) is £40 million. RPF funding first became available from 1 April 2002. The fund has been structured to permit maximum funding flexibility and there is no pre-determined benchmark. However, the SRA expects bidders to make a significant contribution to the capital funding.