THERE was some hope that the demise of Railtrack would herald an era of progress for our railways.

Britain may have been the birthplace of the railways but, as we entered the 21st century, our network was near breaking point because of decade after decade of chronic under-investment.

In other countries railways are the cornerstone of public transport, a key contributor to national economies. Trains run on time, with modern rolling stock and modern track.

In Britain trains are antiquated, track threadbare in places and too few trains run on time.

Sadly, Network Rail, the successor to Railtrack, has offered nothing but bleak news for hard-pressed passengers.

Network Rail's business plan, published yesterday, provided the opportunity to make its mark.

The opportunity was missed. The forecast of one in ten trains running late by the end of the decade means that Network Rail, like Railtrack before it, is destined to be regarded as an abject failure.

That failure comes at a price. Only last week Network Rail, a not-for-profit company, announced pay-outs of £1.8m for its directors.

And for the privilege of seeing little improvement in reliability over the next ten years, Network is asking for £54bn of taxpayers' money.

Passengers and taxpayers are being forced to hand over more and more cash for ever-worsening train services. And directors continue to be rewarded for overseeing shoddy levels of service.

This does not represent the value-for-money we were promised when Railtrack disappeared.

Dignity in compromise

THE Fire Brigades Union deserves praise for its considered response to modernisation proposals announced by the Deputy Prime Minister.

So soon after a bitter and protracted industrial dispute, it might have been perhaps understandable if the FBU had railed against every aspect of the White Paper.

The union's offer to study the proposals and respond over the next couple of weeks suggests there can be constructive dialogue which may lead to improved standards of service and greater efficiencies.