The UK Chancellor, Philip Hammond, presented the Autumn Budget 2017 this week, setting out his strategy for the UK’s future economy, reiterating the government’s commitment to investment in UK railways and infrastructure, what the Chancellor termed ““The biggest rail programme since Victorian times”.

Autumn 2017 Budget Announcements Impacting The UK Rail Sector

• Update on the two largest infrastructure projects in the UK and Europe– Crossrail and HS2
  • Crossrail 2 – The government will continue to work with Transport for London on the funding and financing
  • £300m investment to ensure HS2 infrastructure can accommodate future Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine rail improvements
• Transforming Cities Fund – A £1.7 billion fund to boost productivity and create higher-paying jobs by improving connectivity and supporting employment across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Area, West of England, West Midlands and Tees Valley
• £337million investment to replace the 40-year-old rolling stock on the Tyne and Wear Metro
• Digital upgrades –£30m to trial new solutions to improve mobile and digital connectivity on trains on the Trans Pennine route. £84m to fit state-of-the-art in-cab signalling across a range of trains, £5m from NPIF for digital railway upgrades on the South East and East London lines and a fund for digital signalling scheme at Moorgate to improve services
• £2m investment for Midlands Connect to develop the Coventry-Leamington rail link
• Other investments – £5m to develop Cambridge South station, £300,000 study into new stations in Oxfordshire, infrastructure upgrades across Wales, Network Rail to allocate an additional £200m on renewals for CP5

November 2017 Recruitment Announcements In The Rail Sector

• £50 million upgrade for South Western Railway (SWR), the region’s new rail operator, creates 200 new jobs in Eastleigh
• Work has officially started on a £6 million project to double the size of Wolverhampton’s steel rail terminal, in Horseley Fields with 3 new jobs being created when the centre opens
• The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) launched their “landmark coming together” which will see train companies, Network Rail and suppliers launch ‘In Partnership for Britain’s Prosperity’ – a single, long-term plan for a changing and improving railway. The launch includes proposals for a £50bn investment in the rail industry, with a promise to create 40,000 new jobs over the next 10 years