Network Rail are working with the freight industry in order to increase the capacity available on the railway. A new timetable is expected to be implemented which should hopefully see more space freed up for passenger services.

The rail freight industry in Britain has been working in collaboration in order to conduct an industry wide review that aims to try make freight operations more efficient. The review has taken two years and it could result in a massive change to the timetable due to more space being made available.  Network Rail and freight operators have been working together over the course of this review in order to identify any possible changes. It has been noted that 50% of the reserved rail slots for freight transport were not being used and could therefore be used in passenger transport. The unused space could also be used in accommodation new freight services.  It is thought that every week 4,702 paths, or slots that have been allocated to freight trains on the timetable, have been given to other areas which could lead to more passenger trains, and therefore go some way to meet the increasing demand on the railways.

Network Rail are working to increase the capacity of their passenger rail service. This work includes constructing longer platforms and trains with more carriages in order to increase the number of passengers able to be accommodated on the rail network. The engineering company is also focused on improving the network in order to provide more efficient trains. These measures will all also help meet the increasing demands on the rail network.

In contrast to the work to put more trains on the tracks and to extend the platforms, the extra capacity that has been gained by the re working of the freight timetable has come at no cost and also hasn’t seen a reduction of the number of freight trains on the system.