Network Rail, which manages most of the railway network in Great Britain, is seeking up to £1bn in private sector investment to pay for upgrades in its trackside fibre optic cable network.
Network Rail operates over 16,000 kilometres of data cables next to the railway. The cable infrastructure delivers data essential to running the railway such as signalling for trains, trackside sensors, CCTV, and internet for trains, railway depots and offices. The upgraded fibre would offer excess capacity that could be leveraged by a third party to run its own telecoms services.
Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive, said: “Our telecoms infrastructure requires an upgrade if we are to meet the growing connectivity needs of passengers and the railway itself – particularly to make sure our fibre capacity can handle more data, at greater speed, more reliably.
“This proposal makes good business sense for all parties. We get a cutting-edge, future-proof telecoms infrastructure; the investor gets a great business opportunity; train passengers in Britain get an improved service for years to come; and the taxpayer saves a significant amount of money.”
