Commenting on the Department for Transport’s proposals, Dr Nelson Ogunshakin OBE, chief executive of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) said:

"This is great news for our railways and we’re delighted that our calls for increased investment through complementary private funding have been heard. There is a huge opportunity for market-led proposals to unlock rail projects which will improve frequency, capacity and connectivity across the rail network.

"Given the strains our railways are under, we should welcome additional sources of investment, and encourage the competitive process to deliver these projects cost-effectively. We look forward to seeing a new pipeline of projects emerge thanks to this news, starting with the southern rail link to Heathrow."

ACE previously supported additional market-led investment at the House of Commons Transport Committee in February 2018 and in our response to Network Rail’s consultation on Control Period 6 in March 2018.

ACE represents the interests of professional consultancies and engineering companies operating in the social and economic infrastructure sectors. ACE’s rail group is made up of members working in the rail infrastructure design space. Members include AECOM, Alan Baxter, Amey, Arcadis, Arup, BWB Consulting, Cass Hayward, Fairhurst, Jacobs, Rail Power Solutions, Ramboll, Tony Gee and Partners, Turner and Townsend, Waterman and WSP.

ENDS