Tory admission over rail sell-off

Critics blame deaths on privatisation

The method by which the Conservatives privatised Britain's railways was wrong, a senior Tory has admitted.

Shadow minister David Willetts said the sell-off of track and train lines as two separate entities was a mistake.

He told the Daily Telegraph a model that had worked for the privatised utilities had been wrongly applied.

Critics of privatisation point to increased fares, timetable chaos and accidents like Hatfield and Potters Bar as the legacy of the sell-off.

John Major's rail privatisation plans saw the creation of Railtrack, which had responsibility for the track and infrastructure, as well as separate train operating companies competing for franchises.

If we think we made a mistake, we should be open and grown up about that David Willetts

Enemies of privatisation said this structure meant that Railtrack had no incentive to arrange repair work to minimise disruption.

Recently the government's Network Rail, created to replace Railtrack, brought maintenance contracts back in house saying it was safer and cheaper.

Mr Willetts said he would even be inviting playwright David Hare - author of anti-privatisation play The Permanent Way - to act as an adviser.

"I would not defend the way we carried out the railway privatisation," he told the Telegraph.

"If we think we made a mistake, we should be open and grown up about that.

"Rail privatisation was a classic example of taking a model that had worked for one industry and wrongly applying it to different circumstances."

Mr Willetts said he favoured re-integrating the track and trains.

It was announced on Friday that Network Rail is to get £22.2 billion to run the railways over the next five years.