OUR railway network is a shambles. Many trains are decrepit, overcrowded and don't run on time. As the tragedies at Paddington and Hatfield have demonstrated, the lines and signaling systems have been poorly maintained.

We need bold and decisive action from Government to prevent the entire system from falling into a state of complete and utter disarray.

As newly-appointed Secretary of State for Transport and committed rail user, we had high hopes that Stephen Byers would inspire the industry with a reformist zeal.

But, instead of boldness, we have had abject weakness. And, instead of decisiveness, we have had dithering.

His decision to grant a two-year franchise for the East Coast mainline beggars belief.

Mr Byers uses the line for his journeys between his North-East constituency and Westminster. He knows full well that the line is the jewel in the tarnished crown of British railways. Struggling against the woeful inefficiencies of Railtrack and the consequences of decades of neglect, GNER has proved to be one of the very few genuine success stories of privatisation.

A two-year extension to the franchise is scant reward for its endeavours.

Is Mr Byers seriously suggesting that GNER will invest heavily in rolling stock to improve reliability and passenger comfort when it knows it may lose the franchise after 2005?

Without the possibility of long-term returns on investments, GNER has little incentive to undertake the improvements Mr Byers wants to see.

He should have seized the opportunity to grant a 20-year franchise for the East Coast mainline. He should have given it the chance to show what could be achieved with a long-term strategy and long-term investment.

Under such circumstances, it could have set the standard for the rest of the country's network to follow.

But under Mr Byers' uninspiring proposals, it is destined for a further period of under-investment.

We cannot afford to shy away from the sheer scale of the problems and the sheer scale of the measures needed to bring our railways up to the standards of those in other western economies.

And while private capital can be a catalyst for change in a privatised industry, Mr Byers has to ensure that appropriate public policies are in place.