FEARS are growing that improvements to the over-crowded Thameslink service may be scrapped following the collapse of Railtrack.

Plans for the Thameslink 2000 rail upgrade, which includes longer trains serving St Albans and Harpenden and a new Kings Cross station, are hanging in the balance as the rail industry restructures.

Railtrack, which was to finance the project, went into liquidation on Sunday with debts of £3.3 billion.

But a spokesman for Thameslink warned commuter services will not improve unless Thameslink 2000 goes ahead.

He said: "Our commuters want it because the service is full up and we, as the operators, want it too.

"Nothing can improve without Thameslink 2000 we need it.

"We want to run better, longer trains to more places and we have been assured that all contracts will be honoured. "

Confusion now reigns over who is responsible for the future of the proposed work, with various rail bodies passing liability between them.

Thameslink 2000 comprises plans to lengthen platforms to accommodate longer trains, increase capacity, provide more frequent services and extend the network.

It was developed in 1990 to meet increasing demand from commuters.

The economic viability of the Eastern region depends on Thameslink 2000 going ahead, according to St Albans MP Kerry Pollard.

He said it was still too early to speculate but promised to raise the issue with Transport Secretary Stephen Byers in Parliament next week.

Meanwhile, a Railtrack spokesman denied the project had ever been given the go-ahead.

She said: "The Thameslink project was always subject to planning permission and a procurement review between Railtrack and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is currently under way."

The scheme was now a matter for Railtrack's administrators, she added.

But a spokesman from administrators Ernst & Young said any decision on Thameslink 2000 lies with Railtrack's future successor and would not be known for "a number of months".

He added: "Only contracts for work which have already been signed or work that is already under way will definitely go ahead."

A spokesman for the SRA, which oversees the rail industry, said: "We are continuing discussions concerning Thameslink 2000 and Railtrack's administrators.

"As I understand it, Railtrack are under contract to deliver, and we would expect it to go ahead. We are saying 2007 at the moment."

A statement from the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions said: "There will be a review of the larger contracts but in the meantime contractors will be requested to work on these contracts in line with existing work schedules."

The news Railtrack would be replaced by a not-for-profit trust to run the rail network was warmly welcomed by Mr Pollard. He has lobbied the Government to return the rail network to public ownership raising concerns that profits were being put ahead of safety.

October 10, 2001 19:38

Clair Weaver