Rail client reported to be asking for additional funding in its five-yearly pricing review

Under-fire rail client Network Rail is to ask for an extra £1bn in funding today, according to reports over the weekend.

The Sunday Times reports that Network Rail, which is responsible for running and maintaining most of Britain's overground track and larger stations, will ask for the funding in its five-yearly pricing review today.

In June, the UK Office of the Rail Regulator said the company should receive £26.5bn over the five years from next April. This was £2.5bn less than it had asked for. It is now expected to say it only needs £1bn more than offered, making a total of £27.5bn.

However, a source close to the company told the paper it was confident of meeting a deadline for a large increase in capacity on the West Coast Main Line. The new timetable, made possible by extensive engineering work on the line, is likely to be phased in from 14 December.

Trains will run from London to Birmingham and Manchester every 20 minutes, rather than every half-hour.

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