Regulator gets tough on Railtrack

Tough talking: Rail regulator Tom Winsor

Rail regulator Tom Winsor has ordered Railtrack to produce a recovery plan better tailored to the needs of train companies.

Railtrack now has until 18 January to produce a plan that ensures both passenger train and freight operators can deliver a reliable service.

The move came only hours after Deputy Prime Minister praised Railtrack workers for faster than expected progress in the rail recovery plan, put in place following last October's Hatfield crash.

Mr Winsor agreed that good progress was being made but said a plan was needed that would help train operators plan their services better.

John Prescott: Rail repairs "exceeded expectations"

He made a provisional enforcement order on Railtrack and if the company does not produce the plan by 18 January, Mr Winsor could impose a final enforcement order and then financial penalties.

He said in a statement: "Train operators require such plans as well as route-by-route information so that they can plan their services properly and with confidence.

"They must also be able to make an assessment of the adequacy of those plans to deliver a reliable service in the longer term for passenger and freight passengers."

Mr Winsor acted after the Association of Train Operating Companies expressed dissatisfaction with Railtrack's plans at the end of December and asked the rail regulator to intervene.

Atoc welcomed Mr Winsor's announcement. Director General George Muir said: "We know that Railtrack has made progress in the last three weeks, but we don't yet have a return-to-normal plan. This is what passengers want.

"We are working closely with Railtrack to develop these detailed plans and we expect they can be prepared in time."

'Repairs going well'

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said earlier on Tuesday that Railtrack's Christmas repair blitz had exceeded expectations.

After a meeting with Railtrack bosses, he said that about 40 miles had been replaced during the holiday period and thanked workers.

We are working flat out to ensure as many services as possible can run

Railtrack

Mr Prescott said Railtrack was on target to return 85% of services to normal by the end of January and 100% by Easter.

But in a later statement, the transport secretary said: "It is clear that good progress has been made on the emergency programme.

"However, there is clearly a lot more to do before we can be satisfied with the overall state of the rail network.

"Rail passengers need to see more improvements to the reliability and punctuality of the service."

Railtrack said in a statement that it had been working closely with the train and freight operating companies and the Rail Action Group to keep all industry partners fully informed of the latest state of the national recovery programme.

Plans well advanced

The company said plans were already well advanced to provide updated route by route recovery programmes to the train operators before January 18.

Stewart Francis, chairman of the Rail Passengers Council, also welcomed the enforcement order.

"Clearly, the missing part of the rail recovery plan...has been liaison with the train-operating companies to enable them to know when sections of rail will be restored and, therefore, be able to staff up and have the appropriate rolling stock and get information to passengers," said Mr Francis.

Meanwhile, people returning to work on Tuesday faced widespread problems after engineering work planned more than a year ago in northwest London and Leeds lasted longer than scheduled.