Row over trains facing axe

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A row over the future of the national rail network erupted today amid claims that one in five trains face the axe because of spending cuts.

The Strategic Rail Authority, which wants train operators to cut costs because its budget is running out, maintained this did not mean cuts in timetables or platform staff. A spokesman said a "handful" of services could go "at worst".

But the watchdog Rail Passengers Council said the costcutting "must [have] some impact on the level of service".

A spokeswoman said: "While we appreciate the need for efficiency savings where possible - and we have seen costs escalate - we would not want to see this have a detrimental effect on passengers."

The row follows the admission by SRA chairman Richard Bowker, detailed in the Evening Standard last week, that multi-billion-pound improvements to the national network would have to be abandoned unless the industry improved its performance.

The SRA's budget of £ 33.5billion over 10 years is believed to be rapidly drying up because of increased costs of maintenance, the spiralling price of current projects and subsidies to train operators.

Taxpayers, it was revealed last Wednesday, are having to provide a £58million bail-out for Connex, one of the busiest commuter companies, just to keep promised improvements, including new trains, on track. Then, on Thursday, an SRA report showed that the passenger train companies were fined £71million during the last 12 months, mainly because of late-running services. The train operators, in turn, have lodged counterclaims against Network Rail, successor company to Railtrack, because tracks and signals keep breaking down.

Yesterday ' s Observer claimed up to 3,500 trains a day could be cut by next year if the economy drive goes ahead - accompanied by huge rises in ticket prices and job losses.

An SRA spokesman, however, said the report was "absolutely not true". He confirmed that the authority had asked the Wales and Borders network for options on costcutting and would ask other operators to do the same.

"What we are talking about is cutting their costs - not services." He denied operators were being asked to submit plans for running railways with up to 20 per cent less funding, as The Observer claimed. "This is not about funding. This is about companies cutting their own costs."

But shadow transport secretary Tim Collins warned fares would rise as services declined and demanded an urgent government statement.

 

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