The company that owns Britain's rail network yesterday edged towards accepting a tough funding package that will force it to cut costs by 21 per cent over the next five years.

Iain Coucher, chief executive of Network Rail, said his company was "minded to accept" the Office of Rail Regulation's ruling on its funding. The ruling allowed the company an income of £26.7bn from government subsidies, train operators and freight companies for the five years starting from April next year - £2.4bn less than Network Rail said it needed to achieve improvements in train punctuality and investment projects.