A huge investment in railways across Sussex could mean a multi-million pound stockpile of modern trains will finally come into service.

South Central, which operates Brighton-London services and coastal routes in Sussex, has spent tens of millions of pounds on the trains but many cannot be used yet because there is not enough power in the supply to run them all.

Many passengers have been forced to make do with 40-year-old slam-door trains.

A £274 million package announced yesterday includes plans to upgrade power supplies across the South to enable all the new trains to be introduced.

However, Network Rail officials - responsible for Britain's railway network - predicted it would be "touch and go" whether the January deadline for phasing out the old trains would be met.

They said huge problems in pensioning off the old trains could delay the introduction of the new stock.

Network Rail has announced its ten-year business plan, outlining efforts to improve performance and cut costs.

It aims to tackle the legacy of years of underinvestment on the railways.

A total of £26 billion will be spent on the UK network in the next five years in an effort to boost train punctuality from 80 to 90 per cent.

An average of 1.5 miles of track will be laid every day.

In Sussex, £87 million will be spent on track improvements, £57 million on structures and £55 million on signalling, plus more than £70 million on other schemes.

Across the county there will be 71 miles of rail renewals, 49 miles of sleeper renewals and 48 miles of ballast renewals during the next five years.

An extensive programme of track renewals, including Hastings and Bo Peep tunnels, signalling improvements at Horsham and an upgrade of the electrical control room at Brighton, are also outlined.

Points will be renewed at Bo Peep (Hastings) and improvements will be made at London Road, Brighton.

Network Rail regional director Robin Gisby said: "We're spending more because we're doing more to put right the years of under-investment that have left us with an ageing and fragile network.

"With £1.72 billion being spent on the network over the next three years, our task must be to ensure we get best value out of that investment."

The firm hopes that by the end of 2006 its cash injection will result in service levels exceeding those achieved before the October 2000 Hatfield rail disaster.

Maintenance of the railways in Sussex, as well as in other areas, is to be taken back in-house, which means Network Rail's staff numbers will double.

The announcement of Kent and Sussex's share of the £26 billlion was made yesterday at Hastings station, where a £7 million project is to be completed by January.

There will be a new station, walkway, canopy and a glass-fronted building.

Mr Gisby said: "Performance is better and the volume of trains is better.

"The plan will build upon the substantial achievements of the past 18 months."

Network Rail owns and maintains the tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, viaducts and level crossings as well as owning the UK rail network's 2,500 stations.

Wednesday March 31, 2004