From the Daily Telegraph today:-
It seem as though the closures of the 1960s were premature.
Overcrowded rail network to get £2.4bn
By David Millward, Transport Correspondent
Last Updated: 9:15am BST 03/04/2007
A £2.4 billion spending programme which will see platforms added and lengthened and signalling improved has been announced by Network Rail.
The £2.4bn is aimed at cutting overcrowding
The package, believed to be the biggest in decades, will be implemented over the next two years.
It is designed to ease the chronic overcrowding on the system and comes within weeks of the Government announcing that it will provide 1,000 extra carriages.
With demand for rail travel soaring, the investment is designed to take some of the pressure off the network.
Last week the Office of Rail Regulation revealed that passenger numbers have been increasing faster than train capacity over the past year, meaning that passengers faced the prospect of even worse overcrowding.
Today's package is a series of 'quick fixes' designed to ease some of the worst problems although far more radical solutions will be needed on some lines - such as that into London's Waterloo, which is already running almost at capacity.
A new station will be built at East Midlands Parkway and extra platforms are being provided at Manchester Airport, Bristol Parkway, Newport and Wakefield Westgate.
Also included in a list of 900 schemes is a new line from Airdrie to Bathgate in Scotland and several track doubling projects - designed to help avoid delays on some of the busiest parts of the network.
Money will also be spent on station car parks amid complaints from passenger groups that the shortage of spaces is putting people off commuting by rail.
"Three million people use the railways each day, more than at any time in the past 60 years," said John Armitt, Network Rail's chief executive.
"We're not standing still waiting for the big infrastructure projects to be delivered. We are doing something about it now by moving forward with hundreds of small sc
It seem as though the closures of the 1960s were premature.