Awaiting the arrival of railways next five year funding

18 August 2005

The rail regulator will this week announce how much is needed to run Britain"s railways for the next five years.

The figure is expected to reach between £4 and £4.5 billion, although ministers had budgeted for less.

As a result, they have demanded that Network Rail borrow over the next three years rather than receive increased subsidies or increase fares.