Railtrack 'could last a year'
Ernst & Young has admitted Railtrack could stay in administration for up to a year, but bidders have demanded faster action on the sale process.
Alan Bloom , the administrator, has told Railtrack staff they should expect the transfer to a new company to take place in the third quarter of next year.
Costing pounds 1m a day to run, the administration is now set to take far longer than the original three to six months predicted by transport secretary Stephen Byers.
At the same time, WestLB, the German bank backing the SwiftRail UK bid to run the railways, has asked the administrators to speed up the process.
At a meeting last week, the bank was told it would take three months to get into the Railtrack dataroom, six months to complete due diligence and at least another three months for the bid to be evaluated.
Links
Profit at ‘insolvent’ Railtrack
Railtrack report good news for E&Y