On track

SOMETIMES it is difficult to tell, despite the whirlwind of announcements, exactly what the Government wants to do with the rail network. It gives rise to the suspicion that Ministers don't know either. Within weeks, the Government has finally announced plans for a high speed rail link which goes through Yorkshire, and then stood idly by as York-based Jarvis collapsed at the cost of 1,200 jobs.

Now hopes have been raised that workers, including those in York, Doncaster and Leeds, could be re-hired through the appointment of a replacement contractor. This appears to be a belated outbreak of common sense after Ministers failed to use their powers to protect jobs at Jarvis – despite serving in a Government which has found billions of pounds to prop up the banking system.

Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, has shown a genuine enthusiasm for his brief but has done rail workers few favours here. With many of the redundant staff already having fled to the Gulf in search of more work, as predicted just a couple of weeks ago after Jarvis went in to administration, it is vital that whoever wins the General Election does as much as possible to get these people back in to the industry.

Britain stands little chance of getting its much-needed improvement in rail service if the specialist skills of hundreds of workers are lost. In Yorkshire, which has suffered from an historic neglect in its share of transport funding, this is particularly important.

It would be appalling if the legacy of the worst recession since the war was a series of taxpayer-backed big bonuses for bankers and the perpetuation of a second class rail network. Britain will be stuck in the sidings if these rail jobs are lost forever.