RAILTRACK today promised an extra £150 million to improve services on the Brighton to London line.

Improvements will include better track and signalling at key points along the route, like Gatwick, East Croydon and Clapham Junction.

Gatwick Airport station will get extra platforms and passenger capacities at Brighton and Victoria will be increased.

Shelley Atlas, of the Brighton Line Commuters group, said: "It sounds very good news for us if they can actually do it all.

"These improvements need to be made.

"The Government is trying to get more people to use public transport and it needs to make it more pleasant by reducing waiting times."

Morning commuters are often delayed just outside Victoria as their train waits for another to leave.

Railtrack has promised turnaround times for trains will bereduced and timetables restructured.

The £150 million investment package also includes a £2.5 billion station modernisation programme, of which £2.6 million will go towards improving Victoria.

Railtrack's plans have been formulated in anticipation of a 30 per cent growth in passenger traffic over the next 10 years.

Chief executive Gerald Corbett said there was still much to be done, adding: "We know that too frequently the experience of passengers falls short of what they have a right to expect."

He pledged to improve passenger train punctuality by 7.5 per cent in 1999-2000, by five per cent in 2000-01 and by 2.5 per cent in 2001-02.

Railtrack chairman Sir Robert Horton said the plan provided "greater traffic capacity, greater comfort for passengers and even higher levels of safety".

Mr Corbett said: "From my own experience as a regular train traveller, I am all too aware of the problems.

"This programme is the largest upgrade of the infrastructure since the railways were first built."

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