Hungover staff blamed for Rail fiasco

Commuters at Liverpool Street faced another day of disruption as the station reopened too late for the morning rush after engineering work which was supposed to finish on New Year's Day.

The West Coast mainline was hit by delays and cancellations as an upgrade, which forced the central part of the route around Rugby to close, over-ran for a fourth day.

Network Rail blamed a shortage of expert engineers needed to put up overhead power lines on both routes. At the last minute, the company realised it was 40 specialist engineers short of the 400 required to complete the jobs - but sources said much of the problem was caused by hungover staff phoning in sick.

Many had drunk too much to pass strict safety rules banning alcohol in the bloodstream. The limit is 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood.

The company was forced to issue a grovelling apology as it faced the prospect of more than £20 million-in fines for its failures. The man in charge, operations and customer services director Robin Gisby, said: "I know we've let down a lot of people and I'm very frustrated about that. I can quite understand their anger.

"We are in charge of these railways - we're standing up and saying we got this wrong in planning terms. It went badly wrong in the last couple of weeks."

Opposition politicians and passengers directed their anger at the Government. Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said: "It's an absolute disgrace. Ministers need to step in to sort out this chaos. People need to be able to plan their journeys with confidence. They can't if Network Rail is unable to schedule its work properly. I will be seeking an urgent meeting with Network Rail to discuss these matters."

Shadow Conservative transport minister and Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond said ministers had a duty to step in because Network Rail was supported by billions of taxpayers' cash.

"The Government is now more heavily involved in the railways than at any time since British Rail existed. Ministers do have a responsibility and a duty to step in and end the suffering for commuters. What a happy new year - fare rises and the misery of closed stations," he said.

At Liverpool Street, there was mounting anger over the delays. One, the company which runs services from the station, was given the go-ahead to run trains too late to ensure a full service. Morning commuters suffered cancelled, late and short-running trains.

Construction project manager, Charlie Cowland, 57, of Chelmsford-said: "It's time for the Government to commission a full report into Network Rail, the train companies and the way they do business."

Sales manager Ian Pow, 37, of Chelsfield, Kent, was struggling to get to work in Enfield. He said: "The Government are not doing enough to sort this problem out, fares keep going up but the services just get worse."

Network Rail has been plunged into crisis by the fiasco. It was accused by One and Virgin, which runs West Coast services to and from Euston, of utter incompetence. Taxpayers contribute £4.5 billion a year to Network Rail. The Government wants to cut funding to £3 billion by 2014 by shifting more of the cost on to commuters.

Passenger watchdogs are encouraging commuters to press for compensation. Passenger Focus said: "Seeking compensation would send out a clear message to the train operators that this is not the service that they should receive. These delays were avoidable and passengers bought their tickets in good faith."