August is always a good excuse for inaction but this dying Tory administration has taken it to extremes. The railways are in a perpetual crisis and yet paralysis and obfuscation are the order of the day, with no light at the end of the tunnel.

It almost seems as if Hapless Harper (pic) and his Merriman have left the railways in a state of limbo deliberately while they go off on summer jollies having lit the blue touch paper of booking office closures and run away before the fireworks went off. They have also stood by like disinterested observers while the industrial dispute which has dogged the industry for more than a year remains unresolved. They are presumably acting at the behest of the helicopter hopping Prime Minister who seems to show more interest in pulling pints, despite being a teetotaller, than in anything to do with the railway. Indeed, I understand that much of the failure to address railway issues is a result of the lack of interest in Number 10 which sees the whole network as an irritating burden on taxpayers used solely by the unwashed non car owning minority. Jeremy Hunt, at Number 11, is complicit, too, merely viewing the railway in terms of how much subsidy it is using, rather than a key component of the nation’s infrastructure.

Speaking to rail managers, it is clear there is a loss of confidence in the future of the industry. The discussion often centres on just how much damage can be wreaked before the other lot take over after the general election but there is little confidence that the difficulties can be sorted out quickly even then ...