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The future of railtrack
24 July 2002
Railtrack R.I.P, Arise… Network Rail
Friends of the Earth today welcomed the decision by Railtrack Group shareholders to accept the Government backed deal to sell Railtrack plc to Network Rail. This not-for-profit company backed by Government and SRA loans and guarantees will now take over maintenance and renewal of track and signalling. Instead of shareholders the company will have up to 120 controlling 'members' representing industry and passenger interests.
Friends of the Earth Rail Campaigner Richard Dyer commented; "Hopefully the deal announced yesterday by the Strategic Rail Authority to compensate Virgin Trains for Railtrack's mis-management of the West Coast Main Line is the last we will hear of the company's legacy of incompetence. We welcome today's news that this flawed experiment in private management of our vitally important rail infrastructure is over"
One of Network Rail's biggest challenges will be to get control of Railtrack's spiralling costs. Rail upgrade projects are costing 2 or 3 times what they did under British Rail management ( ). Richard Dyer added; "Railtrack projects have been haemorrhaging money, Network Rail must make a priority of getting costs down without compromising safety, if the UK is to get the world class railway that it desperately needs"
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
