The East Coast Main Line has been dubbed "Britain's fastest railway." But it is also becoming Britain's most congested.

Passenger numbers are rising rapidly. The Great North Eastern Railway alone has seen a rise of 17 per cent in the last two years.

That is excellent news, of course. The more people who let the train take the strain the fewer cars jam our roads and pollute the atmosphere.

Unfortunately, our out-dated railway network is struggling to cope with its renewed popularity. The old infrastructure can only take so many trains.

Already bottlenecks on the line are causing delays. The rail franchising director's recent report revealed that 12 per cent of GNER services were late.

Overcrowding is also on the increase. Too often, the number of travellers far exceeds seats available. Many find they have paid a hefty price for the privilege of standing all the way from York to London.

As a result more frustrated passengers are complaining. This anger is usually directed at the train operating companies. Often, however, it is not their fault. Delays and overcrowding are symptoms of the creaky rail infrastructure.

And that is the responsibility of Railtrack.

So Railtrack's radical plans to improve the East Coast Main Line must be welcomed tonight.

The report meets its summer promise to draw up a blueprint for wide-ranging improvements to the line.

It identifies bottlenecks that have to be tackled, stations which need improving and freight routes that should be established.

These plans will cost a huge amount of money: between £850 million and £1.2 billion, according to the company's estimates. But no one ever thought turning around years of under-investment would come cheap.

Railtrack has the resources. The train operating companies each pay it hundreds of millions of pounds a year for track access. The company hopes its proposals meet with swift approval. Ministers should be favourably inclined: the Government is anxious to move more traffic from road to rail.

Without the improvements, Railtrack warns that delays and overcrowding on the East Coast Main Line will get worse. That could bring the railways renaissance to an abrupt halt.

It is in the national interest that Railtrack's plans should be given the green light as soon as possible.

see NEWS 'Railtrack reveals blueprint for trains'

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