'Bleak' winter in prospect for rail passengers

Rail passengers are to be warned they face another disastrous winter of delays and cancellations unless the industry receives an emergency cash bail-out.

On Friday the Rail Passengers Council will use the launch of its annual report to say the industry faces a "winter of discontent" unless the Government takes immediate steps to get the railways working to schedule.

Performance figures to be published by the Strategic Rail Authority in the next fortnight will show that the system has still failed to recover from the Hatfield derailment last autumn, making the prospect of serious disruption more likely as the weather deteriorates.

In June, only 81 per cent of trains arrived on time and the figures for July will remain poor, particularly on the troubled long-distance routes.

Before the Hatfield derailment last autumn, nearly 88 per cent of services ran on time. First Great Western customers in Devon and Cornwall are so angry about continued disruption that they have organised a passenger "strike".

"The figures tell a sorry story," said Stewart Francis, chair of the RPC. "There are lots of delays leading to increasing passenger frustration. This could well be a winter of discontent and, unless action is taken quickly, the thaw is a long way off.

"It is astonishing that many of the train companies are still working under the spending plans set by Conservative government. Now is the time to undo this spending straitjacket. This is not a charter for fat cats but straight payment to achieve clearly accountable outcomes for passengers."

His pessimism is shared by many in the industry. One train operating company head said: "Railtrack still doesn't have the organisation right. I can't see that senior management is experienced enough."

Senior rail analyst Barry Doe said: "Things are very grim indeed, the worst I have ever known. I share the concern about the winter ahead. The main cause of the trouble is Railtrack doing engineering work and imposing very long restrictions, which clobber the train companies."

The problems have been made worse by the deteriorating state of trains and carriages. Even though millions of pounds have been spent on new rolling stock, a lack of testing facilities has confined many of them to the sidings.

A spokesman for Railtrack said: "I don't share the RPC's pessimism. We have created a new punctuality and performance unit specifically to reduce delays."