THERE will be little sympathy for Jarvis following its decision to pull out of maintenance work on our railways.

Any firm charged with the task of carrying out such important work needs to have the fullest confidence of train operators and the travelling public.

After last year's Potters Bar crash and last month's derailment at King's Cross, all confidence was lost in Jarvis.

Its decision to quit this particular aspect of its business will be warmly welcomed by all parties. It frees the way ahead for maintenance work to be carried out as it always should be - with safety seen to be a higher priority than profit.

Under the management of Network Rail, the public now has the relatively easy opportunity to call to account those responsible for track maintenance if things go wrong.

The brief history of the railways since privatisation has shown that accountability for failings has always been difficult to achieve.

Rail passengers, however, will be puzzled why Jarvis was still in a position to decide voluntarily to pull out of rail maintenance.

Surely, after previous incidents, Jarvis should have been told somewhat sooner that it had no future role to play.