Winsor derailed
From Max King Sir: Boris Johnson absolves Tom Winsor (`Bring back Railtrack', 3 July) of the blame for the fiasco of Network Rail a little too easily. Winsor's hatred of Railtrack and its directors, especially the harmless Gerald Corbett, prepared the ground for the government's attack. His apoplectic rage at Railtrack's request for an extra £1.5 billion over the next five years gave the government the pretext for claiming that Railtrack was financially unviable, and yet the alternative has cost taxpayers ten times as much. His failure even to attempt to quell public hysteria following the Hatfield crash left Railtrack with no alternative but to overreact.
Perhaps his ridiculous hope of privatisation anew is an indication of remorse at his considerable role in assisting the government's ideological agenda, and of a wish to turn the clocks back. Until the public judges incompetence, waste and greed as harshly in the public sector as it does in the private sector, there is no hope for a revitalised railway in Britain.
Max King
London N8
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