Byers faces new Railtrack charge

TRANSPORT Secretary Stephen Byers faced Tory charges that he was 'playing with words' in the row over the timing of Railtrack's collapse. He broke his silence 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 Byers' political future, with some at Westminster tipping him to go in a summer reshuffle.

Mrs Warren claimed that Byers told her in a private meeting last 12 September: 'Railtrack will not be a problem for much longer.' She said 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 Byers announced in the Commons on 7 October that the company would be put into administration. If true, they would mean that Byers lied to MPs when he told them he only reached his decision on 5 October.

Byers told the BBC on Thursday 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.'