Prescott visits 'expanded' station

Rail has been a thorny issue for John Prescott

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott will visit Leeds station, which is being upgraded to accommodate more trains.

His tour comes at the end of an intensive three-day programme of rail repairs across Britain by Railtrack, involving 8,000 engineers.

The work at Leeds station is the first phase of a project to double capacity on the East Coast Main Line.

The deputy prime minister has made no attempt to hide his frustration at the delays faced by rail passengers.

The Hatfield crash prompted track repairs

Before Christmas he gave senior rail managers an ultimatum to deliver new sustainable timetables and better information to the travelling public.

The three-day work programme was intended to replace 25 miles of track and 50 sets of points.

Railtrack has also launched a recruitment drive with the aim of finding 1,000 new members of staff.

The company is looking for 700 signallers and 300 engineers as it attempts to get services back to normal after the Hatfield crash.

Mr Prescott wants rail bosses to minimise delays to passengers as soon as possible, but he is acutely aware of the public clamour for the industry to ensure safety is paramount.

Speaking during an inspection of engineering work on Tuesday, Transport Minister Lord MacDonald said that Railtrack had pledged to get 85% of services "back to normal" by the end of January.