CRITICISM of Stephen Byers over his reluctance to adequately compensate shareholders who have lost investments in the collapse of Railtrack is wholly justified.

This error of judgement does not, however, warrant his resignation.

After only six months in office he can not be held responsible for years of neglect and under-investment in our railways.

And to suggest, as the outgoing chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority did yesterday, that Mr Byers had caused "tremendous damage" in his handling of the Railtrack affair is a distortion of the truth.

Amid all the onslaughts against Mr Byers, we must not lose sight of Railtrack's key role in its own downfall.

For six years it was responsible for the stewardship of our railways. Six years of under-investment, delays, and accidents. And at the same time six years of successive dividend increases to investors and hefty salaries and pay-offs to senior directors.

Railtrack as it was constituted had lost the faith of the public to be responsible for health and safety and investment on our railways.

Mr Byers deserves support, not vilification, for abandoning within a few months of taking office any hope of restoring faith in Railtrack and taking decisive action.

And he has earned the chance to demonstrate how he intends to put our railways back on track.

Don't forget sport

THE £541m investment in school sports facilities is most welcome.

In an education system dominated these days by academic league tables, there is a temptation to overlook the benefits of sport in schools.

Sport is a vital component in education. It offers the chance for less academically-gifted young people to attain excellence. It helps reduce truancy, enhance social skills and encourage a healthy lifestyle.

With the overwhelming consensus on the value of sport, it makes even more baffling the policy of many authorities in the past two decades to sell playing fields for commercial development