March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Network Rail Ltd., the government- backed owner of Britain’s tracks and stations, said it will spend 35 billion pounds ($46 billion) over five years to boost railway capacity and reliability.

Network Rail will spend about 12 billion pounds to reduce overcrowding by lengthening platforms to accommodate longer trains, the London-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. It will also increase the number of trains and seats.

“We will see a transformed railway through ambitious plans that will deliver more trains, more seats, longer trains and faster trains,” Chief Executive Officer Iain Couche said in the statement.

Demand for U.K. rail travel has grown faster than capacity over the past decade, according to the London-based Office of Rail Regulation. Passenger journeys increased 7 percent to 1.2 billion in 2008, mainly in London and the southeast of the country.

Network Rail will spend 11.5 billion pounds to replace aging infrastructure, such as rails and switches, and 11.4 billion pounds for daily maintenance and operations, it said.

The rail company will upgrade a dozen stations and build new stations at Blackfriars and London Bridge on the Thameslink line, which connects north and south London. Other key projects are a rail link to the Glasgow, Scotland, airport and capacity improvement on the East Coast Main Line.

Funds for the plan will be raised by selling bonds with a U.K. government guarantee, Network Rail said Feb. 5.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sabine Pirone in London at spirone@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 31, 2009 06:38 EDT