DELAYS on trains run by GNER have soared since the Government forced Railtrack into administration, the Tories have claimed.

Figures obtained by the Conservatives reveal 28.3 per cent of the company's trains were delayed in the month to December 8 last year.

This compares to 24.4 per cent of trains running late in the preceding 11 months.

Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa May said the fact trains were being delayed - rather than cancelled - meant GNER was not to blame.

She argued it was instead because the Government's decision to pull the plug on Railtrack - taken in October - had plunged the rail network into chaos.

She used the figures to make a fresh call for Transport Secretary Stephen Byers to be sacked. The Government is coming under increasing pressure over the state of the railways and problems caused by industrial action.

Mrs May's attack came as Europe Minister Peter Hain added to the Government's woes when he described Britain's railways as the "worst in Europe".

In an interview for Spectator magazine, published today, he said: "We started transport investment far too late. It is an intractable problem, we should have been more radical earlier." The figures released by the Tories today have been compiled from information displayed by the train operating companies in train stations.

Companies such as GNER are obliged, under the Passenger's Charter attached to their licences, to publish monthly performance statistics at the principal stations they serve.

Mrs May said: "Clearly these figures for increased train delays are bad news Stephen Byers hoped to bury.

"They show train passengers are suffering as a result of his decision to pull the plug on Railtrack.

"How much more misery will the travelling public have to suffer before the Prime Minister puts Stephen Byers out of his misery and replaces him?"

A GNER spokesman said: "The delays are attributable to problems with trains and with track and equipment. For our part, we are carrying out improvements in the reliability of our trains and are currently putting through a refurbishment programme."

Updated: 10:36 Thursday, January 10, 2002