Byers 'kept Railtrack plan from shareholders'

The Tories launched a fresh attack on Stephen Byers' handling of the Railtrack affair yesterday after a document suggested he was preparing to put the company into administration a week before the news was revealed to shareholders.

Theresa May, the shadow Transport Secretary, called on the Government to "come clean" about events leading to the company's collapse. The revelation will add to the anger felt by shareholders who chose to receive their dividend in the form of shares. The dividend was paid on 3 October, when plans to take the company into administration were well advanced, the document indicates.

But the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions insisted ministers had made plain that contingency arrangements to put the company into administration were in place before the formal announcement was made.

The controversy centres on a copy of the statutory instrument formally putting the company into administration. It was dated 6 October, to come into force on the following day. Ministers have insisted Mr Byers took the decision to put the company into administration on 5 October. But fax markings on top of the paper suggest it was transmitted on 28 September.

Ms May said yesterday: "This clearly shows that the Government was on the verge of putting Railtrack into administration much earlier than Stephen Byers claimed. The Government owes it to shareholders, particularly employees who had their savings invested in the company, to come clean over the events leading up to the collapse of Railtrack." Ministers hope to replace the troubled firm with a not-for-profit company overseen by train operating companies and passenger groups.

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said the document was part of contingency plans drawn up in case action was needed. "There is no secret about the department having contingency plans in place. This is part of our contingency plans."