It was with dismay I read of prosecutions to be made against senior managers in the rail industry in the aftermath of the Hatfield crash ('Ex-York rail chief faces crash charge', July 9).

The guilty party is Margaret Thatcher, whose privatisation dogma ripped the heart out of the industry and replaced its residual public service ethos with a money-making one.

Railtrack was an ill-conceived and structured procurement organisation which depended heavily on contractors but initially did not have one engineer on its own board.

The company's structure placed it in a "piggy-in-the-middle" situation. On one hand, train operators were thumping the table to demand more track access to run more trains. On the other hand, maintenance contractors were being denied the time to replace worn sections of track.

Meanwhile Railtrack's board seemed to have to concentrate on money-making schemes to regenerate stations and open a plethora of takeaways such as tie bars and sock shops. These efforts to make money left the company to rely on privatised contractors for the day-to-day maintenance of the railway.

What should have happened from the outset is now only being introduced jointly by Network Rail and the Strategic Rail Authority.

Future timetable contracts are being prepared for each route with a realistic level of guaranteed track access for maintenance and repair crews. Everyone will know where they stand.

Who will pay for ten years of under-investment in the nuts and bolts of the railway? There will be little incentive for rail companies to recruit, train and retain staff if there is no confidence in future spending plans.

Paul Hepworth

Windmill Rise

Holgate, York.

Updated: 09:11 Saturday, July 12, 2003