North East missing out

In criticising Sharon Hodgson MP and Richard Ord, Councillor Peter Wood is correct in stating that Northern Rail’s new electric trains cannot not be used through Sunderland.

What he does not mention is that 55 new class 195 diesel multiple units, which could be used on Wearside services, are also being built.

Northern Rail, which is owned by Sunderland-based Arriva, is, however, allocating all these units to services in Yorkshire and the North West.

The North East is to receive 30-year old class 158 units displaced from Yorkshire, and also some discarded by ScotRail.

Northern is receiving some newer class 170 units from ScotRail, but these are being sent to…Yorkshire.

Peter Wood, as in previous letters, points out the failings of “Network Rail (the nationalised part of the rail network)”. The reason that the rail infrastructure is state-owned is because of the collapse of the privatised Railtrack company.

The real problem is not whether the infrastructure is nationalised or not, but that the railways were fragmented in the 1990s when track and train operation were separated into distinct companies.

Declassified government files from 1991-92 show that Malcolm Rifkind, then Transport Secretary, felt that this method of privatisation should not be followed, but the views of the Treasury prevailed. Neil Sinclair