Byers faces new charge on Railtrack

Transport Secretary Stephen Byers today faced Tory charges that he was "playing with words" in the row over the timing of Railtrack's collapse.

He broke his silence last night to reject a charge by Paddington rail crash survivor Pam Warren that he lied over the date he decided to pull the plug on the rail infrastructure firm.

The deepening dispute cast fresh doubts over Mr Byers' political future, with some at Westminster tipping him to go in a summer reshuffle.

Mrs Warren claimed that Mr Byers told her in a private meeting last 12 September: "Railtrack will not be a problem for much longer." She said Mr Byers spoke of the idea of a not-for-profit company replacing Railtrack, although he never used the word "administration".

According to Mrs Warren, he told the Paddington survivors' group to "watch out for around the 8 or 10 October when you will have some news that will be very pleasing to you".

The claims infuriated City shareholders who lost money when Mr Byers announced in the Commons on 7 October that the company would be put into administration. If true, they would mean that Mr Byers lied to MPs when he told them he only reached his decision on 5 October.

Mr Byers told the BBC last night: "No decision was actually taken until 5 October. We were either going to provide Railtrack with more money, but tied to improved reliability, better safety record, or we can deny them more money. Those ... were some of the options I mentioned at the meeting on 12 September."

Shadow transport secretary Theresa May rejected the explanation and said: "Stephen Byers is playing with words yet again."

Opinion: Kept in the dark - again