Government plan £8bn investment in Britain's railways.

Plans are in place to purchase over 2000 carriages to tackle overcrowding, and pressing ahead with the Thameslink programme.

However, plans to modernise the London-Swansea line are still on hold until the end of the decade before the investment is complete.

Passengers also face rises in ticket prices to help pay for the investments."We welcome the fact that the government recognises that the railway plays an important role in driving economic growth and this investment proves that," said Patrick Butcher, finance director at Network Rail, after the announcement of half-yearly profits of £299m - more than doubling the same time period in the previous year.

The government was forced to decide which of its rail investment plans would be put on hold in response to the budget cuts. Now we know that more than 2,000 new carriages are being bought, with 1,850 of them being used to provide extra capacity. With 2000 carriages being bought, 1,850 of them are being used to provide extra capacity, with these carriages finishing coming into service around 2019.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond admitted that it was a "rolling programme" but said passengers would start to notice the benefits "within the next few months".