MP attacks Railtrack fiasco

WEALDEN MP Charles Hendry has written to Transport Secretary Stephen Byers to seek urgent reassurance on the Government s support for reinstating the Uckfield to Lewes rail link, following the collapse of Railtrack last week.

The Conservative MP described the Government s handling of Railtrack as a fiasco and said that schemes like the reopening of the Uckfield to Lewes line could suffer as a result.

He said: Mr Byers has already had to admit in the House of Commons that Railtrack s primary role now will be to maintain existing track, rather than build new track. This is a clear admission that projects like the Uckfield to Lewes link are less likely to go ahead.

The Railtrack fiasco also means it will be much harder to get private investment in future in the railways. The private sector now knows that the Government s commitment to public-private ventures is only skin deep and that it will not think twice about withholding funds, even if this will force a company into bankruptcy.

I know there will be very mixed feelings locally about whether Railtrack should be in the public or private sector, but we can all agree that the way the Government has handled the matter has been a fiasco. Whilst I will do all I can to get the rail link restored, we must also recognise that the Government s plans for Railtrack in the future are a serious setback.

Most worryingly of all, from watching Mr Byers in the Commons, I don t think he has the slightest idea of the damage he has done.