Almost 50,000 shareholders of collapsed rail operator Railtrack are to begin their High Court case for £157m in compensation from the government.
The shareholders are acting after the Department for Transport forced the firm - since replaced by state-backed Network Rail - into administration.
They accuse the government of "misfeasance" in 2001 - acting within the law but in bad faith.
The civil case is the UK's largest class action trial in history.
The case, which is starting on Monday, has been brought by the Railtrack Private Shareholders Action Group (RPSAG).
'Accountability'
Stephen Byers, the transport secretary at the time of Railtrack's demise, is scheduled to appear on behalf of the government during the trial, which is expected to last a month.



It was Mr Byers' decision to withdrawing Railtrack's funding in light of the fatal Hatfield crash in 2000 which forced the company into administration.
If the High Court finds in favour of the shareholders' misfeasance claim, then a second trail would have to take place to determine the exact level of damages to be awarded.
The RPSAG has raised £2.4m to bring the case to court.
"It is important not just for 50,000 shareholders but also for the wider community and government accountability," said the group's spokesman Geoff Weir.







It is important not just for 50,000 shareholders but also for the wider community and government accountability
Geoff Weir

Railtrack was formed on 1 April 1994 after the privatisation of the UK railway network by the then Conservative government of John Major.
Many small investors snapped up shares when it was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.
Railtrack's shares went as high as £17, but had fallen to 280p when the administration order was made and the shares were suspended in 2001.
Shareholders received £2.50 a share following the decision, but many were angry at this amount, deeming it too little.
It was this opposition which led to the creation of the action group and Monday's court case.






Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...ss/4624481.stm

Published: 2005/06/27 00:31:20 GMT

© BBC MMV

Hmmm....this is interesting. Here £157 million (the sum sought in compensation) is lost due to 'misfeasance' whilst Nigeria's past rulerseitherstole or misused£220 million.

Now the story describes it as the misfeasanceand says it is 'acting in bad faithbut within the law'. Dah!.....how does that work? Does that mean, I cansteal fromyou (which is pretty bad faith is it not), but it is ok as long as I do it legally???? confused3

Well it is all pretty clear now. AfricanGovernmentsstealor misusemoney, while Western Governments just act in bad faith.

Nowhere is the rub, if the people that launch this action (people who voluntarily took on theriskof share ownership) win we, the taxpayer who had no say in the whole debacle anyway suffer the cost. So those who acted through misfeasance (and no doubt some of whom benefited personally from it) don't pay any cost. Those who wanted a piece of the ill-gotten corruptpie (i.e. the privatised state-owned assets) and speculated that they would gain something, also get something out of it. Meanwhile the 'great unwashed public' end up footing the bill as well as getting lumbered with a transport system that is more diabolical than anything run under state ownership. Wow! Good game, good game.

You know, when I studied law I was taught that misfeasance meant "wrongful exercise of legal authority". In other words you had the legal authority to do something (e.g. sell something) but just not to do it the particular way you did...e.g. sell it to your brother for next to nothing. Go figure! Western logic is a great thing is it not.

Well the next time I am done for speeding I will claim misfeasance. "Your Honour, I had the legal authority to drive that car along that stretch of road. It was my car, insured and taxed. I just acted in bad faith by driving at 150 miles over the speed limit..............Can I go now?"

Respect

railtrack was a disaster but that is only the visible sign of the rot of the railways... Putting money into this is like a black hole. The wastage and mismanagement is shocking... The whole system is set up to make certain companies profitable.

Network rail is NO different, same staff in new uniforms (rebranding costs more millions in wastage btw).

I would be suprised if those shareholders ever saw a penny

when I say Capitalism sucks I am given all sorts of names

this is another classic example of CAPITALIST MONEY POISON