Darling defends decision to bring rail maintenance in-house

Transport secretary Alistair Darling has defended Network Rail's decision last week to take control of all its track maintenance contracts.

Speaking on the ePolitix website today (Wednesday), Darling said the move was "vital to develop clear lines of responsibility and accountability for maintenance work on the rail network".

He denied that the decision amounted to a vote of no confidence in the private sector and insisted it would save £300m for the taxpayer.

He added: "Contractors carrying out routine maintenance operate on what is known as a cost plus basis. This gives contractors little incentive to cut costs or to respond to problems quickly."

However, contractors are up in arms about the decision and are scanning through existing contracts to see if the rail operator has breached any obligations.

Network Rail aims to take back control of the maintenance contracts between now and next summer.

Compensation payments are currently being agreed between the rail operator and its contractors over the termination of the contracts.