Is private finance in the rail a serious proposition?

It's difficult to know just how seriously to take the proposal being hatched by the shadow Strategic Rail Authority (sSRA) to allow train operating companies and the private sector to fund and build rail infrastructure projects. (See lead story page 1).

Is the Government really backing the idea? If so, it certainly demands serious attention. Or is this just a way of putting pressure on Railtrack to speed up the investment programme over which it seems to be dragging its heels more and more?

Either way, it appears the Government (to say nothing of the travelling public) is fed up with the (lack of) progress being made on such major projects as the West Coast Main Line upgrade. So perhaps breaking Railtrack's monopoly will open up a flood of investment.

But leaving aside the problems of fragmenting the network and the attendant health and safety issues, if Government is serious about the idea, does it have the political will to see it through? Will the public be indifferent to further privatisation of the railways or will it attract the kind of controversy that surrounds the partial privatisation of the London Underground?

The public doesn't seem to be bothered about who finances and builds the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. So perhaps the public won't mind if sections of the network pass from Railtrack (which is, after all, a private company) to other private companies - so long as fares don't rise of course.

The one group who will be enthusiastic about the plan is rail infrastructure contractors and those trying to break into that market. If the sSRA's plan is adopted, the long awaited rail boom might really become a reality.