Former Tory Transport Secretary admits there is a basic problem with the way railways are privatised

Rail track and services should never have been split up, says Sir Malcolm Rifkind

Sir Malcolm Rifkind wants privatisation overhauled Getty (Getty)

A former Tory Transport Secretary has said the Government must address the basic problem at the heart of how British railways are privatised.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind said it was a "fundamental anachronism" that train services and the rail track they run on were given to separate bodies to operate and it is a problem still having an impact today.

He called for a new model of privitisation in which train companies are made responsible for track their services run on.

It comes after Chris Grayling announced a task-force to sort out huge delays affecting services on the problem-hit Southern franchise, along with a £20m fund to invest in infrastructure to help the firm's trains run on time.

Southern's mother-company Go Ahead also just announced that yearly profits have soared 27 per cent to £100m.

Ex Tory minister Sir Malcolm said he was moved out of the Transport brief by former prime minister John Major after raising concerns about how services and track were being privitised separately.

Speaking on BBC radio he said: "It was certainly the conclusion I came to at the time, and of course Railtrack which was created after privatisation was a sorry mess, Network Rail has been an improvement.

"But as Chris Grayling has now been saying you have to get them working as a single team, and if you are going to need them as a single team why not make them a single operating business.

"That is what happened with British Rail, it's what happens in most of the world."

Sir Malcolm said it was not an argument against privatisation, but against the way it was carried out.

He added: "We still have this findamental anachronism which needs to be addressed."

On Thursday Mr Grayling said he would provide the extra funds to ensure Southern trains run on time.

Go Ahead boss David Brown saw his pay rise to £2.16m this year, from £1.96m in 2015, despite the network he operates having the worst punctuality record of any franchise in the country, with almost one in five trains late.