As things stand, the winners of the third round of the Department for Transport’s Restoring your Railway fund are expected to be announced in the autumn at the earliest, with a question-mark over whether the long-awaited Spending Review will come first.
There is considerable pressure on rail budgets: Network Rail’s enhancement budget has been slashed by around £1 billion – and with uncertainty about passenger numbers as we emerge from the pandemic, it is unlikely those pressures will ease.
