Watchdog attacks rail privatisation

Major General Lennox Napier, who left his job as chairman of the rail watchdog, CRUCC, yesterday, has caused a political furore with his fiercest attack yet on rail privatisation.

His criticisms came as the country's leading train manufacturer announced the loss of 123 jobs because of the dearth of orders from British Rail

While not opposed to privatisation, Maj Gen Napier said: "This Government was always going to [privatise] but if they could go back in time I think they would go about it in a different way. Privatisation could work, but it's just a matter of whether it will work better for passengers. There is no clear indication that we are going to have a high level of sustained investment in the railways."