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Plans Passed For Network Rail's National Centre at Milton Keynes
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Network Rail's National Centre at Milton Keynes Plans Passed. Improve rail supplies and rail services

Picture courtsey Network Rail - Artist's impression of new National Centre at Milton Keynes

Plans for Network Rail’s new national centre, one of the most sustainable office buildings in the country, have been  given the go-ahead Milton Keynes’ planning authority. (See our stories 8 November 2009 - Network Rail submits planning application for new national centre & 13 December 2009 - Network Rail announces key national centre contract)

The centre will bring together teams spread across numerous sites under one eco-friendly roof, improving the way Network Rail coordinates activities to build a bigger and better railway. Network Rail plans to house up to 3,000 employees at the centre, bringing new jobs to the area.

It will be built on the site of a former hockey stadium to revitalise an underused corner of Central Milton Keynes, and Network Rail’s plans for the 400,000 sq ft building were approved at a town hall meeting on 21 January 2010.

Chief executive Iain Coucher said: “Network Rail has made a big commitment to Milton Keynes in choosing the city as the home of our new national centre. Since making that decision we have been overwhelmed by the level of support we have received from all parts of the community.

“I’d like to offer personal thanks to the many hundreds of local people who took the time to speak to our project team or visit our website to have their say on our plans for Milton Keynes. Thanks in no small part to their feedback, we have got an exciting design for the national centre which will be one of the greenest buildings in the country and a stunning addition to Central Milton Keynes.”

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Rail improvements for Wales called for
Sunday, 31 January 2010

The Welsh assembly's enterprise and learning committee says it believes Wales is not getting its fair share of investment and needs to meet a rise in demand.
There are calls for a wide ranging upgrade of it's railways with faster trains, improved stations, new carriages and light rail systems.
It said it was concerned passenger satisfaction with stations in Wales was much lower than other parts of the UK.

Official forecasts suggest substantial growth in rail use for both passengers and freight in the coming years and in order to meet this demand, the committee makes a number of recommendations.

It said new high speed links are as important to Wales as other areas of the UK, and that both north-south and east-west links need improvement.

Light rail systems were also called for, for Cardiff, Newport and Swansea.

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