BRITAIN's chancellor, Mr George Osborne, has announced that more than £1.4bn will be invested in rail projects in an attempt to stimulate the country's ailing economy. The main benefits will be electrification of the Manchester - Leeds mainline, government support to reopen the Oxford - Bletchley line, permission for Southern to acquire 130 emu cars to increase capacity on its network south of London, and limiting train fare increases to 1% above the rate of inflation.