New franchise for Chiltern line

Commuters on the busy Chiltern line out of Marylebone station were today promised £371 million of improvements with the signing of a new 20-year franchise deal.

But the announcement is nearly 18 months late and many of the longer-term planned upgrades to the infrastructure will depend on whether the money is available.

Many of the improvements were announced two years ago but the signing of contracts with operator M40 Trains has been delayed, first by the chaos after the Hatfield disaster and then the forced Railtrack administration.

Under the deal £150 million will be invested in new and refurbished trains and £69 million on stations, car parks and a new maintenance depot at Wembley. The company is committed to running 15 out of 16 trains on time by December 2003.