LONDON — According to a wire service, Railtrack Group, the company that owns Britain’s rail infrastructure operator Railtrack Plc, will take beleaguered Transport Secretary Stephen Byers to court this month, the BBC said on Saturday.
The group told the BBC that it hoped to recover millions of pounds lost to investors when Railtrack Plc’s share price crashed after the company was put into administration.
Railtrack’s head of corporate affairs Sue Clark said that action would begin before the end of the month to force the government to disclose key documents which the company believes will support its case, the BBC’s website said.
She advised shareholders to hold onto their share certificates.
Railtrack Group was not immediately available for further comment. The Department of Transport also did not respond immediately.
Byers forced the operating subsidiary Railtrack Plc, the owner of 23,000 miles (37,010 km) of track and 2,500 stations, into insolvency in October, tired of its pleas for cash and failure to deliver a reliable service.
Byers said the company was headed for a deficit of 700 million pounds ($995 million) by December and 1.7 billion pounds by the end of March and he refused to bail out shareholders.
Railtrack hit back in December when it reported an unexpected 67 percent rise in pre-tax profit to 292 million pounds ($425 million) in the six months to September 30.
The company announced then that it intended to sue ministers over the affair.
Railtrack’s shares were quoted about 280 pence before they were suspended in October. Railtrack said it wanted 360 pence per share in compensation.
Byers has failed to capitalise on what should have been a popular decision by his refusal to bailout shareholders.
Strikes over wage disputes have disrupted thousands of commuters, a government minister said Britain’s railways were the “worst in Europe”, a shortage of drivers causes delays and the infrastructure is ailing from years of underinvestment.
Byers has proposed a not-for-profit company, underpinned by the government-directed Strategic Rail Authority, to run the network. The administrators from Ernst & Young are considering a range of financing proposals from banks.
The Railtrack report came after a week in which Byers fought to keep his cabinet post after a fierce row over his involvement in the departure of two aides, surviving calls for his resignation.