Such is the task that is facing Scotland's rail authorities and now tackled in a new document which sets out a vision of the future for rail passengers and the country's thousands of miles of track and railway stations.

Network Rail's route utilisation strategy is a £1.4bn plan setting out a ten-year range of options for improving the nation's rail links, concentrating on preventing overcrowding and log jams on routes into and within Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The rub, however, is that this may be at the expense of rural stations.

Network Rail, which owns and operates Britain's rail infrastructure, has confirmed that up to 23 little-used train stations could be closed as part of the shake-up.

The Glasgow Crossrail scheme, which would connect lines serving Glasgow's Central and Queen Street stations, and for the first time allow travel from Ayr to Edinburgh and Paisley to Dundee without changing train, is a surprise omission.

Network Rail has included it amongst a list of "potential enhancement schemes" which have not yet reached the feasibility study stage.

But many other schemes are set out to alleviate congestion and improve services, including more frequent and longer trains, better stations with longer platforms, and extra track and signal improvements.

There were more than two million rail passenger journeys a year between the Glasgow and Edinburgh in 2004/05 making it the most heavily used inter-urban route in Scotland.

Overcrowding of services between the two cities, particularly during the rush hours, has become a cause for concern and Network Rail is predicting it will get worse by 2016 when services are expected to have to deal with 30% more passengers than at present.

Network Rail is also expecting a steady increase in the number of rail commuters as people try to sidestep increasing road congestion and the rising costs of motoring.

"Track capacity is heavily utilised on many key sections of the Scotland Route Utilisation Strategy area," says Network Rail in its report supporting the strategy.

"This constrains the extent to which additional services can be accommodated and has a significant impact on the performance of the existing services, especially those out of Glasgow Central and Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley."

Network Rail has also been concerned about the growth in freight traffic over the next ten years.

In 2004/05 rail freight carried within Scotland totalled 5546 million tonne miles, a 17% increase on the previous year.The carriage of coal was the biggest element of the increase, and now accounts for 75% of freight traffic. Network Rail predicts this will rise by a further 10% by 2016.

"Freight demand is primarily focussed around the flows to and from Glasgow and Ayrshire," the report states.

"Freight traffic, particularly coal, has grown consistently in Scotland over the past five years.

"This demand is currently adequately accommodated by the existing network but further growth in certain areas would be constrained and there is a lack of diversionary routes which are able to accommodate 9ft 6in-high containers."

Options for improving the network include four projects worth £1.1bn which already have the support of ministers.

They include the provision of the Glasgow Airport rail link in 2010 as passenger numbers at Glasgow Airport are forecast to increase from 8.1m per year currently to 15m by 2030. It involves creating a double track branch from Paisley St James, on the Paisley Gilmour Street to Gourock line, to a new station at the airport.

The Edinburgh Airport rail link is expected to be completed a year later as airport passenger numbers are expected to treble between now and 2030 when 20m are expected annually.

The Airdrie to Bathgate line is planned for 2010 and Network Rail has lodged a parliamentary bill seeking powers to begin construction.

The main works involve the reopening of the central Drumgelloch to Bathgate part of the route and expanding the existing Airdrie to Drumgelloch and Bathgate to Uphall sections.

The reinstatement of 25 miles of the former Waverley route – from Newcraighall east of Edinburgh to Galashiels and Tweedbank – has already received royal assent and is expected to be finished for 2011.

The weighty 100-page strategy is not a fait accompli, Network Rail stresses.

Many of the options for improvement formulated with the input of key transport partners in Scotland, including Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, First ScotRail and GNER, can be funded by Network Rail.

Other funding can be obtained from Transport Scotland, one of the key consultees, and the agency that is responsible for helping to deliver the Scottish Executive's £3bn capital investment programme over the next decade.

The document will become the focus of consultation until November 16 before a strategy is finalised next spring.

Ian Coucher, Network Rail's deputy chief executive said: "This consultation looks at the challenges facing the rail industry in Scotland. It presents a series of ambitious but realistic options for getting the best out of the network."

The strategy recognises that there are gaps between what Scotland's railway system currently provides and the demands expected of it over the next ten years.