EXCLUSIVE: Major projects will still be vital - so we need to be ready - Haines

Major projects designed to increase capacity (such as Crossrail 2) should go ahead, says Network Rail Chief Executive Andrew Haines - despite nobody being able to predict what passenger demand will be like following the pandemic or how long it might take for significant levels of patronage to recover.

“The need for additional capacity will be there and frankly, all this crisis might have done is bought us a few years of time,” Haines told RAIL.

“The challenge for Government will be whether they use that time to make sure that we can be ready for when we need it, or do people look back and say we wasted that opportunity.”

NR is also working with Government to ensure that enhancements which were already in the pipeline, such as the next phase of the TransPennine Route Upgrade (which is yet to go through Treasury approval processes), do not lose momentum.

• For the FULL story, read RAIL 904, published on May 6, and available digitally from May 2.
• For an EXCLUSIVE in-depth interview with Haines, read RAIL 905, published on May 20, and available digitally from May 16.