UK rail networks could be sold off under plans to be revealed in March
Some of Britain’s major rail lines and entire networks could be sold to external investors under new plans to be revealed in early March, The Sunday Times reported.
Nicola Shaw, chief executive of HS1, the high-speed rail operator, will recommend the sale of a number of lines and has identified those most likely to prove attractive investments to sovereign wealth funds, insurance funds and pension funds, the unsourced report said. Wessex, Essex Thameside and Greater Anglia are among the routes Shaw has earmarked, the item reported.
The UK chancellor asked Shaw last summer to devise a plan for state-owned Network Rail, which currently operates eight rail routes and most major stations, alongside the company’s Chairman, Peter Hendy, the report said. It added that the Shaw Report will be released before the government announces the Budget on 16 March.
Network Rail has a GBP 38bn (USD 55bn) debt burden, which has been included in the UK’s national balance sheet for the past two years, the report said.
Sunday Times