Yesterday's train chaos became the subject of a debate in Parliament.

Colchester MP Bob Russell was among the thousands of commuters affected by the delays, and he later confronted Transport Minister Stephen Byers, who was speaking in the House of Commons about the latest Railtrack developments.

"Mr Byers should be congratulated on his impeccable timing making his statement the very day when the problems on the Colchester to Liverpool Street line were so bad that my constituents took up to five hours to complete a one-hour journey," said Mr Russell.

Mr Byers, accepting blame for the rail problems, replied: "We have to take responsibility, and I will take responsibility for the performance not being as good as it should be, which is unacceptable and we must move forward."

Published Tuesday, March 26, 2002