RAILTRACK was back in the dock last night after it was given a deadline for restoring the rail network - or face legal action.

The company was ordered by rail regulator Tom Winsor to complete all improvement work following the Hatfield rail crash by May 21, the first day of the summer timetable.

It had previously promised to return all services back to normal by Easter, but this was unrealistic, said Mr Winsor.

Railtrack claimed it was making progress as "quickly as possible", and had only been asked to meet plans to which it was already committed.

The North-East's main train operator GNER said its trains were continuing to be delayed by up to 15 minutes in some cases because of Railtrack restrictions.

Thirty one speed restrictions - put in place for re-railing work which is still to be carried out - remain in place on the East Coast Mainline and are not expected to be removed until the second week in April at the earliest.

Nationally, only 12 of the 28 passenger train companies are thought to be in position to run normal services by Easter.

Mr Winsor said: "Railtrack at first promised us the network would be restored by Christmas, then January, then Easter.

"May 21 is the latest date they have given me, so I am putting an enforcement order on them."

If Railtrack fails to comply, it would be breaching a "statutory duty" and could face legal action from train operating companies and passengers.

David Mallender, a spokesman for GNER, said they still did not fully understand the need for the 100 speed restrictions which were imposed on the East Coast Mainline by Railtrack.

He said: "We expect that they will do any remaining work as quickly as possible.

"At the moment, we are almost there in terms of returning completely back to normal."

Train operator Northern Spirit said it would be meeting with Railtrack within the next week to finalise major improvement works for Leeds railway station. This has had a knock-on effect on services it runs in the North-East.

l More than three quarters of those questioned for a Guardian/ICM poll want the privatised rail network returned to the public sector, it was revealed yesterday.

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