Rail fiasco puts brake on Express

BUS and train group National Express have turned up the heat on Transport Secretary Stephen Byers, claiming his decision to put Railtrack into administration is hurting train operators.

It said speed restrictions on its section of the network are not being removed as quickly as they were before Railtrack collapsed in October. The comments echo what other operators say privately. 'The administration has diverted Railtrack's attention,' said National Express.

At the end of October, poor quality rails caused 450 speed restrictions on NE's part of the network - well over half the UK total.

NE said it supports a proposal for train operators to take over the running of the tracks and signals. Rival Stagecoach announced such a proposal for its South West Trains network.

Meanwhile, Railtrack's shareholders delivered Byers an ultimatum to stump up documents justifying his decision to put the firm into administration. They have given Byers until 31 December to respond, or they will seek a court order forcing him to release the information. The 3,000 private shareholders led by solicitors Class Law have given Byers two weeks.

The move is the next step in the compensation claim and will help shareholders discover the strength of their case. They also hope it will put pressure on Byers to negotiate.