Railtrack 'cover-up'
Railtrack's private shareholders have accused the Government of "gagging" the company's board and staging a "cover-up" to prevent the disclosure of sensitive documents surrounding its demise.
The Railtrack Private Shareholders Action Group (RPSAG) claimed the £500m offer to buy Railtrack will stop information relating to former Transport Secretary Stephen Byers' decision to put the company into administration seeing the light of day.
A condition of the offer from the government-backed Network Rail was that Railtrack Group would drop legal action and not pass on certain documents to shareholders.
Andrew Chalklen, chairman of RPSAG, representing 22,000 members, said: "This gagging agreement indicates clearly that the Government has something to hide and that the company has material that will embarrass the Department of Transport. This is a disgraceful act intended to cover up its wrongdoing."
On Thursday, Railtrack agreed terms for the buyout that could see investors receiving 244p to 255p a share. If shareholders accept the offer at a meeting next month they still retain their rights to take legal action against the Government.
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