Byers in court for Railtrack case
Former Transport Secretary Stephen Byers is expected to be called as a key witness in a lawsuit against the Government by Railtrack shareholders.
Nearly 50,000 shareholders are taking the Government to court over its role in the collapse of Railtrack.
Mr Byers put Railtrack into administration in October 2001 after the Government decided to withdraw funding from the company.
Members of the Railtrack Private Shareholders Action Group (RPSAG) are seeking £157 million in compensation from the Government.
They accuse the Government of acting in bad faith, claiming that it plotted the downfall of Railtrack, and that Mr Byers had made the decision to put the company into administration as early as July 2001.
Mr Byers is expected to produce official documents showing the financial drain that Railtrack was having on the Government and to argue that the decision to put the company into administration was made in order to protect taxpayers.
When Railtrack shares were suspended in 2001 they were trading at £2.80.
Shareholders accepted a final price of £2.50 once the company was wound-up, a figure well below the peak of £17.68 pence before the Hatfield train crash in October 2000.
They are now seeking to obtain the difference between the average price of the shares over their lifetime and the final price given to them by the Government.
Railtrack was created in April 1994 when the railways were privatised by the then Conservative government.
It was replaced by not-for-profit company Network Rail.
