A Conservative Government would overhaul Network Rail by slashing the number of people able to hold the body to account, shadow transport minister, Teresa Villers, has said. Ms Villiers was responding to revelations that Lord Adonis, the transport minister, had attacked Network Rail – a public company – for a ‘serious failure to take account of passenger interests, following a series of co-ordinated line closures. Under a Conservative Government, Ms Villiers said, NR's ‘cumbersome' membership body, which currently holds the company to account, would be slashed from more than 100 members to as few as 10. Ms Villiers also wants to empower the Office of the Rail Regulator to block bonuses for senior NR staff if they are perceived as excessive.
