On the right track?

Two weeks ago CJ asked whether Network Rail would bring the track renewals contracts back in-house in the wake of its surprise decision to take over the infrastructure maintenance contracts.
It seems we were right to ask. Despite its then denials, the confused noises emanating from Network Rail in the intervening period can hardly have been very reassuring for rail contractors.
On the one hand Network Rail has said it is happy to write to rail contractors to "put their minds at rest". And on the other hand its chief executive told the House of Commons transport select committee last week that he couldn't rule out the possibility of taking over track renewals as well.






While privatisation obviously still has its supporters, surely only a madman would argue that the British Rail sale was anything other than a colossal botch up. The biggest mistake was to separate train operation from track ownership in such a way as to make them antagonists not partners.
So in some respects the logical move is to bring all track and infrastructure concerns back together under a single point of responsibility with Network Rail. For contractors it would spell the death knell for all day-to-day maintenance work.
Whether it would kill off the industry, as some have speculated, is debatable. There is after all still a mountain of work needed to bring our railway system up to even a half way decent standard.
Mind you, when that work will come through is anyone's guess given Network Rail's financial constraints. In the meantime, maybe New Labour will find the courage to tackle the question it has bottled ever since it came to power. Namely, ending the divisive and wasteful split between track and train. Some hope.