With the future of Railtrack currently the subject of fierce debate, Finchley and Golders Green MP Rudi Vis examines the options.

We all use trains; some more than others, but over time we are all affected by safety, punctuality, cost and speed of trains.

Although we do not travel in Railtrack trains, we are nevertheless uncomfortably close to Railtrack's disastrous performance.

About seven months ago, I met with some 60 MPs and other interested parties to form a pressure group that would have as its main aim putting Railtrack back into the public domain.

Obviously, we have not been entirely successful. The present proposal will put the operations of the rail network in the hands of a private company, but one without shareholders a 'company limited by guarantee'.

That is good enough for me. Such a company need not worry about shareholders' value and therefore can put us, the travelling public, at the top of its priorities.

Any operating surpluses would go directly into the network.

But where would the much-needed investment in the rail network come from?

As we know, there is a commitment by the Government under the ten year transport plan to invest £30billion of public money in order to radically to improve our rail network. That is a fine sum, but let us look at it in perspective.

The cost, for example, of the West Coast Main Line has ballooned from £2.3billion to more than £7billion over a limited period. So a ten year transport plan would give us, at best, and at current costs, four West Coast Main Lines.

There is a lot more to be done before we will arrive at a modern and efficient rail network in the next ten years than the equivalent of four West Coast Main Lines.

If it appears, and to my mind that is more than likely, that £30billion will not do the trick, what might happen?

We are all broadly familiar with the various alternatives to financing the much-needed investment in our rail network. We might fight for more government money, but that attempt will be in competition with much-needed health and education investments. Perhaps a bond scheme? Not likely. How about a private finance initiative? Well, hang on. We have just left that sort of thing behind us by creating the new company limited by guarantee and without shareholders.

Oh dear. I feel a public private partnership coming our way. Ten years is a long time and £30billion is a lot of money. But decades of under-investment and a deeply flawed privatisation of the rail industry under the Tories will require a long time and phenomenal resources to be put right.

October 29, 2001 14:16