Indians fly in to fix our railways

Rail chiefs were at the centre of a major row today after drafting in engineers from India to mend Britain's railways.

Network Rail spent up to £40,000 flying in 12 engineers to upgrade Victorian signal boxes on the West Coast mainline.

The qualified mechanical engineers are said to have acquired expertise working on British systems installed in 19th-century India.

The company said it would not otherwise be able to meet a September deadline. A spokeswoman said: "There were not enough resources within the UK so we were given permission to bring in the team from India."