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ALISTAIR Darling, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer who died on November 30 aged 70, will also be remembered for his four years as Secretary of State for Transport from 2002-06, when he successfully created Network Rail from the ashes of Railtrack, shut down the Strategic Rail Authority, and cancelled four UK light rail schemes.
This was only part of a long career in politics for Baron Darling of Roulanish, and tributes have been paid to the way this decisive but non-confrontational politician later helped to bring British banks back from the brink in 2008 during a long and painful worldwide recession.
Being in charge of the Department for Transport was just a stepping stone to higher office, and he certainly made his mark after years of scandal and mistrust that had reached its lowest point with the October 17 2000 Hatfield accident, which was blamed on poor track maintenance.
The tragedy killed four people, injured 70 others, and exposed major weaknesses in the management of Railtrack. With a clear brief to take transport out of the headlines, Darling had to find money to pay off Railtrack’s shareholders, to allow the transition to not-for-profit Network Rail, and which also included the abolition of the role of Rail Regulator.
Also for the axe was the Strategic Rail Authority, which his predecessor John Prescott had set up in 1999 after Labour’s General Election victory two years earlier.
However, Darling has not been forgiven in Liverpool, Leeds, Bristol and Southampton for pulling the plug in 2005 on their light rail schemes. They complain that their economies are still suffering and that they are poor relations to more progressive European cities.
Darling said that the projects’ rising costs were unacceptable, and contractors lost their work. Extensions to Manchester Metrolink were also axed (later resurrected), but Nottingham Express Transit got through the net because it was too far advanced to stop.
One project that Darling was enthusiastic about was London’s Crossrail (Elizabeth line), which he allowed to be progressed even though it took almost two decades to reach fruition, opening last year.
Seen as a cool and impassioned figure (even though he enjoyed rock music), Darling was born in London and educated at the University of Aberdeen.
He was an MP from 1987-2015, and as well as transport, he held a variety of senior positions under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - including running the Scottish Office and the Department for Trade & Industry.
Darling was unexpectedly elevated to Transport Secretary following the resignation of Stephen Byers, whose credibility collapsed when he said that the announcement of the demise of Railtrack and com
