Network Rail has announced plans to spend 37.5bn pounds on running and expanding Britain's railway over the five years to 2019.

The rail infrastructure firm predicted that by 2019 the railway would carry 225m more passengers per year and 355,000 more trains.

This would be the highest numbers ever seen on Britain's railways.

It also wants to reduce the cost of running Britain's railways by 18% over the five year period and cut annual public subsidy to between £2.6bn and £2.9bn in 2019.

That would be down from £4.5bn in 2009 and £7bn in 2004.

However, Network Rail's plans assume fares will continue to rise above inflation to help pay for the massive upgrade.

Chief Executive David Higgins said as the railway got busier the challenges became bigger and more complex.

"We have entered an era of trade-offs," he said. "Increasingly we have to balance the need to build more infrastructure, run trains on time and cut costs, and in many areas choices will need to be made."

The plan, which has been submitted to the Office of Rail Regulation, would add 170,000 extra commuter seats at peak times over the five year period.

This includes 20% extra morning peak seats into central London and 32% more into large regional cities in England and Wales, it said.

Network Rail said the plan would mean improved connections between regional centres, including 700 more trains a day linking key northern cities and a ten minute reduction in journey time between Manchester and Leeds

It would also 'future-proof' critical infrastructure such as 30,000 bridges, embankments and tunnels against the impact of changing weather patterns, including flooding.

The business plan comes just days after rail fares for season ticket holders in England, Wales and Scotland rose by an average of 4.2%.

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