Prescott defends rail plans

A senior Railtrack director said railways were improving

Warnings about the state of the British rail network have been shrugged off by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, with the claim that government transport policies are working.

Mr Prescott admitted he was "not happy" about the state of the rail industry, but insisted public transport was more widely used than ever before.

He spoke after a senior Railtrack director warned the government's target of 6,000 new carriages and 50% more passengers by 2010 may have to be abandoned because of safety fears.

Concerns were also voiced by Labour MP and former transport minister, Gavin Strang, who said it was now time to renationalise the railways.

'Press prattle'

Former Transport Secretary Mr Prescott said government commitment to public transport had already resulted in millions more bus and rail journeys.

He [Stephen Byers] is now facing up to the fact that Railtrack was fatally flawed

John Prescott
Deputy Prime Minister

He said the trouble was not the investment in the rolling stock but the track, adding: "Hatfield has shown that for decades governments ignored getting sufficient money, so massive disinvestment took place."

He said despite the current problems there was a long-term government plan to put transport back on track.

Mr Prescott dismissed as "press prattle" speculation about the future of Transport Secretary Stephen Byers.

"I am sure that Stephen is doing the most difficult job you can do and is now facing up to the fact that Railtrack was fatally flawed," he said.

Integrity

Aidan Nelson, director of policy and standards with Railway Safety, the independent safety subsidiary of the Railtrack Group, told BBC Radio 4's Today that Britain's railways were improving.

Prescott: Not happy about the state of the rail industry

He made the claim after Railtrack dismissed the findings of a leaked report by engineering company Ove Arup, which said there had been a "systematic failure" in maintenance work and inspections that are often inadequate.

Mr Nelson said: "What we have got to do is not put more trains on the network until we are satisfied that we can actually further reduce the number of broken rails and further improve the integrity of the infrastructure."

He said there must be a "zero tolerance" of unsafe conditions and called for clear leadership in the industry following the demise of Railtrack.

Fewer franchises

Transport Minister John Spellar argued the government could still increase the number of passengers by reducing the number of rail companies.

Mr Spellar told Today the Strategic Rail Authority's announcement that fewer companies were likely to win franchises serving London stations would mean greater capacity on the network.

We have a clear priority on the railway for safety

George Muir

He said vital maintenance work was being carried out on time, adding: "Apart from one or two rather well highlighted exceptions, the system got the travelling public back home for Christmas."

'Speed restrictions'

Despite the reports of improved safety, one train driver told Today that safety measures were being waived on dangerous stretches of track.

He said: "Some of those speed restrictions on faulty bits of track are being removed in order to improve performance figures for Railtrack without any remedial work on the maintenance side."

Gavin Strang said renationalisation would give railways the priority they deserve.

He said: "Everybody acknowledges that for environmental reasons, global warming, for reasons of sheer efficiency, a modern, efficient, heavily invested railways system is a huge asset and ought to be a high priority."

There was further criticism of the lack of direction in the industry from Bob Crow, assistant general secretary of the RMT union, who said: "The railway has to be run like an army really at the end of the day, a command and control situation."

George Muir, director general of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said it was wrong to say rail travel was getting more dangerous.

"We have a clear priority on the railway for safety and we are putting in and have been putting in for a year and longer measures to prevent accidents as far as is possible and we will not relax that."