THE arduous journey taking rail passengers from overcrowding to high speed comfort has shuddered to a halt yet again. It began some months ago, when both GNER and Virgin pledged to increase capacity and cut journey times if they won the right to run services on the East Coast Main Line for the next 20 years.

Progress was painfully slow. But then in early December passengers dared to hope they might actually arrive at the promised land. The Strategic Rail Authority had decided who should win the franchise, it was reported. The recommendation was in Government hands.

That momentum has been well and truly lost, however. There was a major setback when GNER announced that it would not be able to bring in faster tilting trains until 2006, two years later than anticipated, because of indecision over the franchise. And now, due to the wrong kind of bureaucracy and political careers on the line, the franchise express has been halted.

Make no mistake, this shambles is the fault of ministerial incompetence, past and present. The last government made a complete hash of rail privatisation. That has left us with Railtrack, the train operating companies, the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) and the transport ministry all blaming each other for Britain's often appalling rail network.

The present Government, meanwhile, has had the SRA's recommendation, supposedly favouring GNER, for more than two months. It has failed to act. This unforgivable procrastination may be politically-motivated. Reports suggest that the Treasury favours the Virgin bid. Labour would be keen to delay any in-fighting until after the General Election.

The consequence is that we are stuck in the same limbo that proved so disastrous in the run-up to privatisation. No one can invest in the East Coast line until the franchise is awarded.

Passengers' needs have been forgotten, the morale of GNER staff is bound to plummet and inward investment into York is damaged.

Updated: 11:30 Thursday, February 15, 2001