Last updated 15:19, Wednesday, 23 July 2008

AN influential committee of MPs has warned that the West Coast Main Line could become too busy because of the government’s lack of vision.

A report on Monday claimed rail passengers have been condemned to decades of overcrowded trains and sky-high fares.

The Commons transport committee has accused Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly of having no meaningful strategy to cope with the expected boom in train travel over the next 30 years.

And MPs fear the already crowded West Coast Main Line will be among “the first to saturate”.

In particular, their report condemns Ms Kelly for settling for “just-in-time investments”, while ducking badly-needed long-term decisions to build new high-speed lines and electrify the network.

The 1,300 extra train carriages order “unlikely to relieve overcrowding significantly”, with most earmarked for the South-East, it was claimed.

Network Rail managers have also been accused of “serious management failures” epitomised by chaotic engineering over-runs that shut down the West Coast line for four days at New Year.

Committee chairman Louise Ellman said Ms Kelly’s White Paper for the next 30 years “lacks vision and represents a missed opportunity” and dodged a decision on high-speed rail.

She said: “We are deeply concerned that the rapid shift away from taxpayer contributions, and towards passengers paying a significantly larger share of the cost of running the railways, will be detrimental to passengers and the future of the railways alike.”