I HAVE been a railway enthusiast been for many years.

Last week we received through the post a circular from local Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop in which, under the banner The Tories Great Northern Power Cut, he expresses anger that the Conservative government has abandoned their plans for upgrading the Northern Rail network.

The reason why the government’s action was taken by the Minister of Transport was fully set out in the televised commons debate on this subject.

The report on which the debate was based is also available to Mr Blenkinsop and was well reported on BBC Radio 4.

My understanding is that work carried out by Network Rail, taken into public ownership by the then Labour minister for Transport, Stephen Byers following his close down of the private rail operator Railtrack, was because of their poor performance, namely very poor planning, vast cost overruns, paid for by the taxpayer incidentally, and the failure of Network Rail to deliver projects on time.

Is it any wonder the Government won’t commit further projects to this organisation until they are capable of carrying them out?

Then on Saturday I heard that First Great Western's RMT union members would be on strike over the bank holiday weekend - in an area that has upgraded.

These actions will leave many to wonder why bother to spend even more taxpayer’s money if the results are beset by installation problems and strikes.

Colin Hatton, Marton.