Blair shows irritation with Byers as he warns of rail disruption
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Your support makes all the difference.The Prime Minister warned long-suffering rail passengers yesterday that they faced prolonged disruption as fresh evidence emerged of massive under-investment in the network since privatisation.
In his new year message, Tony Blair betrayed his irritation over the failure of Stephen Byers, the Secretary of State for Transport, to deal with the problems affecting the network.
Mr Blair said: "There remains huge frustration at some of our public services, particularly the railways. I am not going to pretend we can put our transport system right quickly. It will take sustained investment and a constructive long-term partnership between the public and private sectors."
He said that additional funds alone would not be sufficient: "the privatised railway system we inherited was too complex and fragmented." He said that the Government had formulated a set of proposals to put together a less bureaucratic structure which would provide managers with stronger incentives "to put the travelling public first."
No 10 has become increasingly disenchanted with Mr Byers over his handling of the administration of Railtrack. Mr Blair believes it should have been a public relations triumph, rather than what seems to have become a rolling disaster. The Prime Minister is aware that rail services are one of the most important issues in key marginal constituencies in the South-east.
His new year statement came as a senior Railtrack manager revealed the network was in urgent need of renewal and the industry was "half a dozen engineering resignations away from shutting down."
John Curley, manager of the infrastructure company's Great Western zone, warned that up to 10 per cent of the track fabric nationally was "at or beyond the end" of its working life. Mr Curley said that a further 30 per cent would need to be replaced in the next five years with no guarantee that it would happen.
The Railtrack manager said that, since privatisation, contractors "had not done a lot of day-to-day maintenance and renewal work that should have been done." He blamed that on the fragmentation of the industry and "cost issues".
Insiders warn that key executives have left the industry or are about to. Mr Curley said: "We are not many track engineers away from shutting the railway. If six or seven guys walk away, it will have to close." Mr Curley was referring to the limited number of senior employees at Railtrack who are legal guarantors of the safety of the railways.
New statistics compiled by the Government reveal that train cancellations have grown rapidly since 1999. That year just over 62,000 failed to run, but by 2001 it had risen to 165,000.
A poll commissioned by Downing Street showed deep dissatisfaction among voters about train services. Asked if they thought the railways had become better or worse since 1997, seven times more people thought it had deteriorated.
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