Trains claim 'final insult'

A claim by Britain's most senior rail chief that Network Rail was doing a good job was described today as "the final insult".

Richard Bowker's comment came in a week which saw chaos on the railways with thousands of passengers suffering in "greenhouse carriages".

In one journey, described as the worst ever, passengers took more than nine hours to travel 70 miles in baking temperatures and were forced to smash windows for ventilation. But Mr Bowker, chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, said: "I think the team at Network Rail are setting about a huge task in exactly the right way." Mr Bowker insisted that passengers were now starting to see "real benefits" as the railways improved.

But that was not the experience of exhausted passengers. A combination of speed limits, buckled rails caused by the heat and signal failures caused massive delays. It came as Network-Rail today prepared to order more blanket-speed restrictions across the country - meaning further train delays, cancellations and travel misery for commuters.

Stewart Francis, chairman of national watchdog the Rail Passengers Council, said: "It has been meltdown."

But Mr Bowker remained upbeat to defend Network Rail. He said: "The company says it is working hard not only at better maintaining the railways' battered infrastructure but also at cutting the inflated costs it inherited."

Despite the huge number of trains running late - one in four on some busy commuter routes - Mr Bowker said: "Remember, however, that we are running 20 per cent more trains on the railway than we were five years ago." He then went on to stress that investment in the railways must be used as " effectively as we can".

Mr Bowker told the Financial Times: "It will take some time, but people can see real benefits happening now." Citing the billions of pounds worth of new trains both delivered and on order, Mr Bowker said: "We're putting right decades of under-investment."

This week, however, on the busy Brighton line commuters complained that the air conditioning system of the new £1million-a-carriage had broken down. Engineers had to be brought from the Midlands to try to fix the problems.

Meanwhile, there were more delays across the entire southern region served by Connex, South Central and SWT due to the blanket 60mph speed limit ordered by Network Rail because of the risk of rails buckling in the heat.

There were also numerous delays on most other routes serving the capital because of the speed restrictions.

Mr Bowker, the £250,000-a-year head of the SRA which allocates grants and subsidies to the passenger train operators, has already been involved in a row over his free first-class season ticket.

His pass is issued by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), an umbrella goup of the private sector companies. It means Mr Bowker will avoid the inflation-busting fare increase of around four per cent which the train companies - with SRA backing - will put on ticket prices in January.

Mr Bowker has been under pressure to hand the pass back. He is said to use the pass "most weekends" to travel to his country home near Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, saving a fare of £114 return.

A senior rail industry source said: "Mr Bowker's timing could not have been worse.

"To project such an upbeat image of the railways following what has probably been one of our worst weeks ever in terms of delays and cancellations is insensitive to say the least.

"Passengers will have every right to be annoyed and aggrieved with him."