By joining Network Rail, you will be receiving the following:

  Salary: £24,500
  Inner London salary: £26,900
  Employees working at a Network Rail location within a 16-mile radius of Charing Cross.
  Outer London salary: £25,890
  Employees working at a Network Rail location over 16 miles and up to 40 miles radius of Charing Cross.
  Welcome bonus: £3,000

Visit http://careers.networkrail.co.uk/graduates.aspx for more information.

Background on electricity use and electrification:
Network Rail operates extensive high voltage & low voltage electrical networks across Britain and uses 3500 GWhrs of electricity per year, making us the second largest user of electricity in the country.

Approximately 40% of the UK rail network is currently electrified. Of this, two thirds is equipped with overhead lines, whilst the remainder of the system is third rail.

The following routes are currently electrified:

· The West Coast Main Line

· East Coast Main Line

· Great Eastern Main Line

· Part of the Midland Main Line (south of Bedford)

· Great Western to Airport Junction (west London)

· Most of London commuter network (Kent, Sussex, Wessex to Portsmouth and Weymouth), Merseyside and parts of the suburban networks of Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester. The route from Newcastle to Sunderland is electrified at 1500V DC for the Tyne and Wear metro trains, which share the route.

In addition, Network Rail has completed electrification for Airdrie – Haymarket as part of the Airdrie-Bathgate scheme, and also has funding in CP4 to deliver a scheme for Barnt Green to Bromsgrove (West Mids).

Operational benefits

· Reduces rolling stock operating costs

· Reduction in infrastructure operating costs (track wear and tear)

· Increase in rolling stock availability

· Reduction in vehicle leasing costs

· Cost savings to freight operators (fuel costs)

· Increase in availability of diversionary routes

· Passenger rolling stock replacement

· Security of energy supply (oil price fluctuations)

Passenger benefits:

· Reduced journey times through quicker acceleration and shorter stopping distances, particularly for suburban services with frequent stops (ATOC estimates that journey time savings are in the region of a quarter of a minute for typical suburban services and half a minute for long distance services.

· Station ambience: electric trains create less noise, and don’t emit exhaust fumes

· Ride quality: diesel multiple unit trains with under floor engines can make journeys a rumbly affair

· Reliability: electric trains generally have a lower failure rate than diesel equivalents, with electric trains twice as reliable (in miles per breakdown terms)

· Reduction in rail replacement services (buses) – more diversionary routes will reduce the need to revert to buses

· New journey opportunities: if electrification is combined with service recasts, it could potentially provide new through journey opportunities.

· Additional seating capacity: on long distance high speed routes, where a diesel train with a separate power car would operate, electrification schemes eliminate the need for a diesel power car. As a result, electric trains on such routes generally provide additional passenger seating capacity within the same overall train length. For example, the two end vehicles of class 390 (Pendolino) trains contain a total of 64 seats.

Capacity Benefits

· In the case of freight services, the ability to haul greater trailing loads will reduce the number of freight paths needed freeing up capacity.

· The superior performance of electric traction can provide significant journey time savings.

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